to talk about cycles in connection to basel is quite difficult for me at the moment. I haven't had time to explore them so far. so the following lines are pure speculation but maybe provide some hints on where to look for.
generally most of the activities can be placed under the topic of cycles but I guess we would be interested on cycles that have a very precise impact or effect on spacial configurations or at least the built environment in general.
a good example could be an annual trade fair that just closed its doors about a week ago. it is some kind of autumn street market with large areas of amusement parks. it has different locations within the town, basically it just fills up all the squares with ether fun-fair or market stands. these low rise instant buildings - it is some kind of standardized market stand but with shutters and locks and everything in wood so that it perfectly fits to its historical surrounding... - these elements and the blinking and singing fun-fair stuff create a totally new spacial configuration. the time of usage is different too. the market closes at nine at night, this is very unusual as here in switzerland all the shops close at half past six! normally - on saturday already at four and on sundays they do not even open! - . so this temporary installation creates a new environment for inhabitants and visitors. thats probably why they're all so excited each year... this whole thing happens for about two weeks and then closes down. the squares are empty and dark again. there is some kind of transition stage before and after this event. as all the market stands are the same prefab type and quite luxury it takes about one week to set up all the units with electrical and other technical installations and it also takes about one week to take them down. so the transition stage is quite interesting.
there are of course the general elements of daily cycles such a rush hour around work hours or the cluster times on the weekend, but it's not comparable to any bigger city.
what I am surprised about most is the seriousness everyone takes his cycle for. people seem to have a clear path with a defined goal and some key-points in between and then just execute the code. the whole scene on the street or elsewhere - where cycles meet, generally - is determined by prefixed tours. they do nearly anything not to get interrupted. this creates some kind of isolated one person missions and blocks any interaction.
I really miss the beauty of in-between cycle spaces that I found in London, where spontaneously something surprising could happen and change the setting of a path.
I think this could need some more investigation as this difference could be interesting - not that I like it, but to understand it could be interesting - I would be interested especially how far this one person mission continuos in spacial terms...
the next topic I think could be about change and dynamic spaces. not in terms of flow, I am thinking more about places and spaces in a transition stage...
