The situationists aimed at developing a different method to explore the city. With phrases like “We are bored in the city, there is no longer any Temple of the Sun.” (Gilles Ivan 1953 in International Situationniste no 1) they set out to explore the daily urban environment by “cruising” it. Guy Debord describes the technique of exploring in his “Theory of the derive” like this: “Among the various situationist methods is the derive [literally: ‘drifting’], a technique of transient passage through varied ambiances. The derive entails playful-constructive behavior and awareness of phsychogeographical effects; which completely distinguishes it from the classical notions of the journey and the stroll.” (Guy Debord 1956).
The illustration “The Naked City” was developed with these ideas in mind and represent bits and pieces of a map of Paris hold together by a number of arrows indicating connections. This view of islands within the fabric of the city not only represents random walks but also general daily experience we all make. The places we visit are very often not linked through experienced space, but rather through a spatially disconnected mode of transport, e.g. tube or a busy bus.
Cycle studies are the science of everyday life, as normal as it gets. Its focus is the daily routine, with its habits and rhythms as they occure in most citizens' lifes. It is the power of the normal that brings stability and the routine that ensures security. But is is the cycles's dynamic of flow and continuation that prevents life from freezing.
Cycles therefore stand for stability but are at the same time the engine of change.
With this blog the research on cycles and rhythms will be embedded in the most recent developments in technology, covering a range of areas with a focus on space-time related technologies.
The research is undertaken at CASA Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL.
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