atom10:RhythmAnalysis

Read more about rhythm

Definitions

RHYTHM = time + space + energy

Everywhere where there is interaction between a place, a time and an expenditure of energy, there is rhythm. Therefore: a) repetition (of movements, gestures, action, situations, differences) b) interferences of linear processes and cyclical processes c) birth, growth, peak, then decline and end.

Rhythm is change and repetition, identity and difference, contrast and continuity. Lefebvre uses it as a mode of analysis – a tool.

The notion of rhythm brings with it also the notions of polyrhytmia, eurhythmia and arrhythmia.

Lefebvre defines some categories to analyze rhythm:

• Repetition and difference
• Mechanical and organic
• Discovery and creation
• Cyclical and linear
• Contnuous and discontinuous
• Quantitative and qualitative.

The Rhythmanalytical project

There is a strong relation between everyday life and rhythm - a concrete modalities of social time.

We are particulraly interested in the relation between cyclical and linear time. In this way we can describe daytime in accordance with social categories.

The realtions of the cyclical time and the linear are not simple: there is between them antagonistic unity - they are in perpetual interaction.

Cyclical repetition and the linear repetitive separate out under analysis, but in reality interfere with one another constantly. The cyclical originates in the cosmic, in nature: days, nights, seasons, the waves and tides of the sea, monthly cycles, etc. The linear would come rather from social practice, therfore from human activity: the monotony of actions and of movements, imposed structures. The antagonist unity of relations between the cyclical and the linear sometimes gives rise to compromises, sometimes to disturbances.

caption

The surrounding institutions control the rhythm of movement and activity surrounding and extending beyond the site. We need to map and represent the contours of the flow of people around the site. This analysis will help us to define where the intervention can engage with users.

How can we map rhythm? - Using data based on a range of characteristics we can create a contour map of flows for the two main institutions,

• Library

   knowledge flow
   opening hours
   books loaned out
   new journals, every day/week
   newspapers

• Architecture building

   lectures
   times/students
   cafe/canteen
   espresso bar
   library
   university employees

• Science museum

   opening hours
   visitors

• Sports centre

   opening hours
   registered students

• Botanical garden

   opening hours
   types of plants
   seasonal changes