In the chapter titled "No. 3," the Architect (Alma's 3rd husband) discusses some of his ideas as an architect, in particular his vision about time and space:
“We normally don’t think of space as a natural conduit for rhythm, we only associate time with rhythmical flow. The oscillation of a clock’s hands or the sound of a tick-tock are representations of time as rhythm. If we had to live in a shapeless time, that is, in an eternal, undivided present, we’d probably go mad. But we don’t think in the same way about space, and maybe we should. It may be that to attain a state of relative mental equilibrium we’d have to inhabit a space governed by the laws of rhythm. […] Monasteries and temples are created on the premise that our inner and exterior spaces are a continuation of each other, and that time and space are two dimensions that should follow the same rhythm—that is, if we want to live in harmony. Everything in a monastery has the same rhythm, starting with the building itself, erected according to architectural patterns that channel a rhythmical flow." (p. 91)
“We normally don’t think of space as a natural conduit for rhythm, we only associate time with rhythmical flow. The oscillation of a clock’s hands or the sound of a tick-tock are representations of time as rhythm. If we had to live in a shapeless time, that is, in an eternal, undivided present, we’d probably go mad. But we don’t think in the same way about space, and maybe we should. It may be that to attain a state of relative mental equilibrium we’d have to inhabit a space governed by the laws of rhythm. […] Monasteries and temples are created on the premise that our inner and exterior spaces are a continuation of each other, and that time and space are two dimensions that should follow the same rhythm—that is, if we want to live in harmony. Everything in a monastery has the same rhythm, starting with the building itself, erected according to architectural patterns that channel a rhythmical flow." (p. 91)