Rhythm

=Rhythm=

Rhythm is an attribute of any object that is marked by a systematic recurrence of elements having recognizable relationships between them. There are many types of rhythm which are of special importance in buildings. First, there is the repetition of shapes. Second, there is the repetition of dimensions, such as the dimensions between supports or those of bay spacing. A third and more complex type of rhythm is based on the repetition of differences.

Rhythms may be indefinite and open or definite and closed.

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.

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.

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. In exterior rhythms, the problem is in the rhythms of the masses themselves. There has to be a rhythmical basis for the changing heights, widths, and setbacks.



This image corresponds to the gothic style. We can perceive in it many types of rhythms. Firstly, there is the repetition of shapes: windows and the towers. There are also repetitions of dimensions: mainly in the dimensions of windows, which go from larger to smaller and finally a larger size. If we look thoroughly, we can sense a repetition of vertical lines that end in the apex of the tower or the sky itself.