Rhythm

//__Rhythm __//

**Repetition of Differences ⟹ ** **In this rhythmical series, the ascending and descending progressions are built up from small to large and to small again. **  *Open Rhythm: **A mere repetition of similar units equally spaced and without a defined beginning or a defined end is called an open rhythm **


 * Closed Rhythm: **Rhythms can be closed by changing the shapes of the units at the ends or by changing the size of the units at the ends **

  [|**Rhythm**] in **visual arts **is an attribute of any object that is marked by a systematic recurrence of elements having recognizable relationships between them. In Architecture, much of the effects of a building will depend on the harmony, the simplicity, and the power of these rhythmical relationships

There are many types of rhythm which are of special importance in buildings. First, there is the [|**repetition**] of shapes: windows, doors, columns, wall areas, arches, and the like. Second, there is the repetition of dimensions, such as the dimensions between supports or those of bay spacing. In the repetitions of shapes, spacing can vary without destroying rhythmical character. In the repetition of dimensions, the units may vary in size or shape and rhythm will still remain.

A third and more complex type of rhythm is based on the repetition of differences. In this rhythmical series, the ascending and descending progressions are built up from small to large and to small again. But when the large is in the center, you experience a sense of swelling to an important element and diminishing to a small one progressing from a quiet beginning to a climax and then relaxing again.

Rhythms may be indefinite and open or definite and closed. A mere repetition of similar units equally spaced and without a defined beginning or a defined end is called an open rhythm. Its effect in architecture is usually disturbing. But if an open rhythm is closed at either end by the effect of perspective or by a definite marking of each end, this sense of confusion disappears. Rhythms can be closed by changing the shapes of the units at the ends or by changing the size of the units at the ends. It can also be closed by adding to each end a strongly marked opposing rhythm.

There is another type of rhythm of great importance in architecture: the rhythm of lines. Such rhythms can be merely systematic variations of linear lengths or curvatures. Piet Mondrian made an intensive study of linear rhythm and exercised a strong influence on modern architects, especially Mies van der Rohe. This plan has a marked rhythmical character based on repetitions of wall planes and supports, and on alternations of closed and open views.

Just as we can have rhythms of linear length, so we can have repetition of line motions in curves. Thus, the progression from a circle to an ellipse is based on a related change in the radius of the curvature. [|**Spirals**] similarly have an interesting progression in the radius of the curvatures from small to large.The spiral is one of the most rhythmical of forms because of its combination of repeated curves around a focus and the continual progressive change in the radius of the curvature. The fact that the spiral finally winds around to a point of minimum curvature gives it a powerful close. (Do the [|**Rotating Spiral Exercise**] )

Of more importance to the architect are the larger rhythms of interior spaces. In complex buildings, the changing and progressive rhythm of shapes, with alternations of open and closed, big and little, wide and narrow, create an ordered variety of effect which contribute to the power of great and monumental structures. Forms which in plan are rhythmically related necessarily create a sense of motion and a sense of direction. In Pennsylvania Station, repeated rhythms in the circulation emphasize its transitional nature. An open rhythm needs closing, and the closing must be a climax of sufficient importance to justify the preparation for it made by the rhythmical approach.

In exterior rhythms, the problem is in the rhythms of the masses themselves. The repeated masses of Rockefeller Center are similar to each other yet different, and all, with their subtly designed breaks form a rhythmical composition of the greatest interest. There has to be a rhythmical basis for the changing heights, widths, and setbacks. There is a rhythm in the relation of end wings to the point of central interests; there is rhythm in the outline of a good tower as it narrows from the bottom upwards.

In the Daily News building, the progressive, yet strongly marked, vertical rhythms produce a mass of great impact. In the building at the right, the regular rhythms of the setbacks, unprepared for and leading to nothing, achieve only monotony in them and incoherence in the whole.

Preferences in rhythm type have varied greatly in different architectural periods.**Greek** ornament, for example, indicates an intense love of small, regular, and perfectly studied rhythms. It is essentially linear: the relief is regular throughout and shadows count almost as purely linear elements.

**The Romans**, on the other hand, love rhythms of a much freer and more plastic type.

In Roman ornaments, some elements project boldly and some die away into the background; the shadows are no longer linear but instead form varied areas of changing value. The basic composition is further distinguished by great rhythmical freedom; strong progression from big to little, from high relief to low relief, and from free swinging curves to tight spirals.


 * Gothic** is extraordinarily varied in its rhythmical content. [[image:http://id2126.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/gothicarchitecture.jpg align="left" caption="gothicarchitecture.jpg"]] Architects liked to establish many clearly defined and persistent rhythms in their ornaments such as repeated vertical lines of wall panels which develop rhythmical power and the exaggerated staccatos on the edge of spires and gables which emphasize their rhythmical richness. In developed Baroque architecture, the designers achieved a kind of ordered and dramatic rhythmical complexity of line, of mass, and of shape which have never been surpassed.

Rhythmical relationships arise simply and naturally from constructive and functional necessities: controlled and orchestrated by the creative imagination, they become one of the chief elements in architectural beauty.**Modern architecture,** like modern music, varies in its rhythmical ideals from the most clear-cut and regular rhythms to those in which there is a search from such free and so-called natural rhythms that the rhythmical basis is almost entirely lost and the result appears, to many people, amorphous and without meaning. **<span style="color: #5d4b5d; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Rhythm of Lines **<span style="color: #9b0881; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">⟹ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #550655; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Such rhythms can be merely systematic variations of linear <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #550655; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">lengths or curvatures. Just as we can have rhythms of linear length, so we can have repetition of line motions in curves. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #550655; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Thus, the progression from a circle to an ellipse is based on a related change in the radius of the curvature.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #9b0881; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Exterior Rhythms <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #440844; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #440844; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">In exterior rhythms, the problem is in the rhythms of the masses themselves. **
 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #440844; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The repeated masses of Rockefeller Center are similar to each other yet different, and all, with their subtly designed breaks form a rhythmical composition of the greatest interest. There has to be a rhythmical basis for the changing heights, widths, and setbacks. There is a rhythm in the relation of end wings to the point of central interests; there is rhythm in the outline of a good tower as it narrows from the bottom upwards. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #c511c5; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Greek, Roman and Gothic Rhythm
 * <span style="color: #812270; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[[image:http://id2126.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/greekparthenon.jpg align="left" caption="greekparthenon.jpg"]]Greek ornament, for example, indicates an intense love of small, regular, and perfectly studied rhythms. It is essentially linear: the relief is regular throughout and shadows count almost as purely linear elements. **

<span style="color: #812270; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="color: #812270; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Romans, on the other hand, love rhythms of a much freer and more plastic type. **
 * <span style="color: #812270; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In Roman ornaments, some elements project boldly and some die away into the background; the shadows are no longer linear but instead form varied areas of changing value. The basic composition is further distinguished by great rhythmical freedom; strong progression from big to little, from high relief to low relief, and from free swinging curves to tight spirals. **


 * <span style="color: #812270; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gothic is extraordinarily varied in its rhythmical content. [[image:http://id2126.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/gothicarchitecture.jpg align="left" caption="gothicarchitecture.jpg"]] Architects liked to establish many clearly defined and persistent rhythms in their ornaments such as repeated vertical lines of wall panels which develop rhythmical power and the exaggerated staccatos on the edge of spires and gables which emphasize their rhythmical richness. In developed Baroque architecture, the designers achieved a kind of ordered and dramatic rhythmical complexity of line, of mass, and of shape which have never been surpassed. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande',Arial; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">