• Journal of architectural history
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.51-61
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• 2020

Historically, rhythm has played a key role not only in musical composition, but also in architectural design. In 1893, architectural theorist and art scholar August Schmarsow, in "The Essence of Architectural Creation," created a new definition of architecture as space-creation and characterized rhythm as a design principle. However, this new idea was confronted by Heinrich Wölfflin. While Schmarsow's theory represents a dynamic world-view based on anthropomorphism, the architectural theory of Wölfflin is based on the notion of harmony, displaying a kind of conservative stasis. These two main streams have greatly influenced the development of modern architecture. The concept of space has prevailed in the discourse of modern architecture, but the principle of rhythm has seldom received any positive recognition. This article introduces and develops the concept of rhythm and disputes whether Behrens and Frankl in particular, two who dispute Schmarsow's theories, have used the concept of rhythm in terms of space. I conclude that they could not overcome the notion of the physical-the body-, thus their use of the term rhythm is incongruous with the notion of space. The idea of rhythm in architectural creation remains an up and coming idea.