Temporality and Rhythmanalysis in Brussels: Exploring variations in the spatio-temporal appropriation of a multi-cultural metropolis

This paper examines the multiplicity of context-producing and context-generative agencies that realize ‘locality’ as a property of social life (Appadurai 1995). It underscores the importance of ‘time’ in this fragile social achievement through an on-going research study on rhythmanalysis and locality-building. This research was designed to help students of the KU Leuven International Master of Architecture program examine multiculturalism in Brussels. Following Lefebvre’s (1995; 2004) theory on ‘rhythmanalysis’, the study adopted a methodological orientation that emphasized the ‘lived experience’ comparable to participant observation in anthropology (Highmore 2005: 150). As this lead to a broader reflection on temporality and the transience of urban realities, the study then turned to experimental group assignments on the usage of public space. This compnent began to explore how rhythmanalysis could tap students’ inner knowledge and insights and connect these “designerly ways of knowing” (Doucet & Janssens 2011:2) with everyday social realities. While study outcomes are yet to be finalized, they indicate that urban studies ought to integrate ‘time’ as a full-fledged fourth dimension of urban life. By including the study of ‘rhythms’ into its curricula, spatial practitioners can re-activate their part in the increasingly intangible – network-, information and media-based – production of locality.status: publishe