Expanding into the field of practice of temporal urban design, one crucial question is whether one can actually explicitly design for the sense of time and flow, enhance sensorial engagement, and localised social rhythmic practice and processes; and more generally, influence (enhance or alter existing) senses of time, rhythm and, on the whole, place-temporality in the space of the city? So far this has not typically been the domain of interest and practice of the architect, planner or urban designer. To engage in this new conceptual approach urban designers and planners need to open up their horizon of practice, embrace interdisciplinary research, embark in new methodologically explorations (as touched on in the previous section) and innovate their practices and processes.
The research aims to address a series of questions, including:
How to design for temporal resonance in the city, as well as rhythmic continuity, whilst drawing upon the temporal uniqueness of urban places, and by this deliver unique temporal atmospheres and landscapes of meaning, that steer civic pride, societal interaction and engagement?
What are time-based approaches (products, processes and strategies of different kinds) which have consciously changed/impacted on the pace and the flow/articulation of architectural, social and natural rhythms of places, and with it affected the temporal atmosphere in urban places?
What are the practices which defy/break established urban pace and rhythms (of conflict), or, agreeably emphasise existent flows/rhythms by either directly inducing it in urban space or promoting rhythmic engagement in the process of spatial and temporal production?
Overall, the research shall deliver a data-base of pertinent practices (products and or processes), under the conceptualisations of craft, craftsmanship, interventionism and collaborative design.
