The Combustion Cycle and Folk Culture — The National Engine, Still Internal-Combustion

Łódź sways and Structures vibrate. Large structures more so, overturned ones ‘louder’. Try to overturn Łódź. Knocked out of its everyday rhythm, the city will begin to ‘sound’ differently in many unexpected places. W20, which declares an interest in architecture and the City as a whole, should right now be listening with engineering precision for the places from which ‘spontaneous’ vibrations can be heard. For engine designers, this information is priceless. And a city generates a number of revolutions several orders of magnitude greater than an engine. The principle is similar, however: movement is generated by micro-explosions, as in the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine.

Vibroacoustics, this time as a way of measuring panicked excitation:

The Combustion Cycle and Folk Culture — The National Engine, Still Internal-Combustion.

— ‘It is a Polish court dance, although its roots lie in folk music. Features: stately, rather slow, stress on the first beat, 3/4 time. Moderate, even tempo.’

— ‘A lively Polish folk dance from the Kraków region, classed among the Polish national dances, in 2/4 time and with a distinctive syncopated rhythm.’

— ‘It comes from Kujawy. Features: slow, 3/4 time. The slowest of the national dances. Swaying.’

— ‘It comes from Mazovia. Features: fast tempo, accented leaps, lively and “fiery”. 3/4 or 3/8 time, many dotted rhythms, (…)’

Does Łódź not move with a slight ‘sway’? Let us put our ear to it.