Marta Casarin

According to Henri Lefebvre, whenever there is interaction between a place, a time and an expenditure of energy, there is a rhythm. The urban space especially is a place where different rhythms take concrete forms and intersect. These are the cyclical sequence of days and seasons, of human social activity, and ultimately of one's personal pace. Lefebvre defines the urban space as a theater of polyrhythmia. From sunrise to sunset, the diverse qualities of light provide variation and allow for choices. During the nighttime, electrical lighting creates less varied environments, and its staticity "flattens" the rhythms that characterize our daytime activity. This design aims to restore the quality of choice in a dark environment. In order to maximize individual choices and personal preferences, the design takes into account the juxtaposition of light and dark zones that can coexist in the same complex urban space. This design will be applied to Washington Square Park. The composition of light will affect how the user moves through and experiences the park at night and suggest new modes of occupation. Although the park is a constellation of different spaces lit in different ways, the park still functions as a whole. Natural, social and personal rhythms find a new synthesis through the rhythm of light.