Introducing the Henri Lefebvre's rhythmanalytical approach

The concept of ‘rhythm’, associated with everyday life, appears – either explicitly or implicitly – in virtually all of Lefebvre’s writings. As early as his first essay, published in 1925 in issue 5/6 of the Parisian Surrealist-inspired journal *Philosophies* and entitled: “Positions d’attaque et de défense du nouveau mysticisme”, the twenty-four-year-old Lefebvre, fresh from his degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne, criticised idealism, guilty of “keeping the world at bay”; he argued that existence is a fact with which it is impossible not to grapple, and asserted that life is an adventure that must be lived to the full. The essay explores the genesis of the concept of rhythm in Lefebvre and illustrates the wide range of applications of this concept for the purposes of qualitative research in the urban context.