Rhythm


 * Concept: ** In visual arts rhythm 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


 * Types: **
 * Repetition of shapes: windows, doors, columns etc. It can vary in spacing.
 * Repetition of dimensions: between supports or those of bay spacing. It can vary in size or shape.
 * Repetition of differences: 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.
 * Open Rhythm: A mere repetition of similar units equally spaced and without a defined beginning or a defined end.
 * Rhythm of lines: it can be merely systematic variations of linear lengths or curvatures.
 * Spiral: 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.


 * Location: **
 * 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.
 * Exterior spaces: The problem is in the rhythms of the masses themselves. 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.


 * Preferences in different architectural periods: **
 * Greeks: ** Their ornaments, for example, indicate 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.


 * Romans: ** They love rhythms of a much freer and more plastic type.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: ** It is extraordinarily varied in its rhythmical content. 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 the Athens Parthenon we can see a repetition of shapes, in this case, a repetition of columns through all the facade, as well as the repetition of spaces between each of those columns. The Parthenon is an example of a defined, closed rhythm, the rhythm created by the columns has a clear end in the corners of those facades, and even the corner columns are bigger to accentuate that end; Greeks didn't want to create a disturbing image, they loved proportions and dimentions. The rhythms in this building are lineal, and they are basically defined by those columns that not only support the temple, but define the facade and the route people are determined to do round the building.