Embodied Metaphors: From Movement to Form

March 22, 2025 – 3:00 pm
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Event Recordings

Our bodies bare memories of ancient experiences. They stem from the beginnings of humanity and they have created sensory-motor patterns, which influence our interaction and perception of the built environment.

Many sensory-motor metaphors which humans use in their ways of communication – spoken, non-verbal, art, dance, architecture – emerged from those primary experiences, for example:

Physical experience: Standing, being upright, climbing. Metaphor: “Happy is up” – “Being up”, “I am feeling down”, “On top of the world”, “Climbing the corporate ladder”, “Rise to the top”, “Uplifting”,

Physical experience: Being born. Metaphor: “Beginnings are births” – “Idea was born”, “The project is in its infancy”, “The idea was conceived”, “The initiative is going through growing pains”,

Physical experience: Visual perception. Metaphor: “Knowing is to see” – “I see what you mean”, “The event is eye-opening”, “The research illuminated the problem”, “The fog of confusion lifted”,

Physical experience: Gathering around. Metaphor: “Unity is gathering” – “the common vision crystalized”, “the team is on the same page”, “improving the team’s alignment”, “cohesion is created by interweaving various elements”,

Physical experience: Proximity. Metaphor: “Likeness is closeness” – “they are close friends”, “they gravitate towards each others”, “the gaps between people narrowed”,

We explore those experiences and corresponding sensory-motor metaphors and translate them to movement and spatial expressions.

Programme:

PART 1: Experimentation. During the event’s first part, we open up to chosen primary experiences and depict them through dance, movement, and choreography. In the next step, we interpret choreography into form, translating it into spatial installations.

PART 2: Reflection. During the second part, we reflect on the spatial qualities we have created: height, length, weight, pattern, shape. Can architectural elements which by the metaphorical way align with human experience become a part of enrichment, salutogenesis, meaningfulness, emotional regulation, sensory integration? Can they influence the human experience in a positive way?

Do any of them, apart from the metaphor they embody, represent properties which show up in research in environmental psychology or neuroarchitecture? Like shelter, prospect, mystery, complexity, pattern, light, spaciousness or natural elements?

We describe and map the experience and emotions connected to created spatial elements.

The event refers to an article by Lukasz Krupinski and Ulrika Blåeld Wedin: and to Davide Ruzzon’s book “Tuning architecture with humans” in which he explains the “neuro-phenomenological knots. He writes “…any spatial configuration, whether natural or artificial, will have those meanings embedded within its form. Beyond Gibsonian natural affordances, early humans began to recognize and exploit the metaphorical configurations of their primordial settings”. “Buildings often follow the path of a ritual which is capable of first reviving and then establishing collective feelings…”

When and where:

Date: March 22, 2025

12:00 CET. Live in Stockholm. An art-based exploration in real time in a secret location. Ulrika, Camilla and Lukasz perform metaphors, work with artistic material and film with Go Pro camera. This part is closed for the audience. Only the place itself will witness this happening.

15:00 – 16:00 CET. Online event. An interactive meeting with Ulrika, Camilla and Lukasz. We invite audience to experiment with chosen metaphors and to share their reflections with us.

Feel welcome to sign in and we will keep you informed – the link and the agenda for the online event will be sent to you after you have signed in.

Ulrika, Camilla, Lukasz

Hosted by

Organised by

Camilla Eltell holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication Studies from Lund University, complemented by studies in sociology, economics, philosophy, law, and scientific methodology. She has furthered her expertise in design concepts, methods, and visual arts throughout her career. Camilla specialises in visual communication and design processes that integrate sustainable societal development with artistic innovation.  

Her previous roles include project and process management as well as work on visual identity, interior design concepts, and UX lead across industries such as finance, construction, non-profits, and culture (dance, art, theatre). Since 2009, she has operated her own studio focusing on painting, textile design, interior concepts, and sustainable fashion.  

Ulrika Blåeld Wedin completed her professional education and training at the Ballet Academy’s professional school in Stockholm (1987–1990) and has pursued further studies in Paris, Amsterdam, and New York. She is also a certified instructor in Dansa utan krav, a research-based dance methodology. As a choreographer and dancer, Ulrika has created numerous productions presented both in Sweden and internationally. Her work moves between interdisciplinary collaborations, site-specific pieces, and stage performances. Her practice is movement-based, intuitive, and reflective, deeply rooted in the human connection to nature’s continuous processes. She works with choreography, improvisation, and video.

Parallel to her artistic work, she leads and teaches contemporary dance. She has carried out numerous projects for young people, including workshops, dance camps, and stage performances. Ulrika has taught contemporary dance for professional dancers in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and at Byteatern in Kalmar, as well as at the Ballet Academy’s professional school. With extensive experience in meditation and retreats, she has developed a deep understanding of the connection between body and mind—an essential component of her teaching practice.

Lukasz is a practicing architect based in Sweden, with particular interest in human sciences, human-centered environments and interdisciplinary cooperation. He is interested in developing interdisciplinary methods and processes for positive experience and well-being in practice.

The topics of his explorations include:

• Learning about architecture from other disciplines,
• Applying conscious approach in projects,
• Personal choice and motivation, architecture as a coaching process,
• Applying knowledge from research in human sciences in daily practice: combining with traditional architectural qualities,
• Discovering the interaction between architecture and human sciences from various angles, exploring risks and advantages,
• Finding answers to relevant problems in society,

Lukasz is certified as Well AP and has been a member of Well Mind Advisory in 2022. He is also one of the bloggers for Architects Sweden. His recent interdisciplinary project activities include urban planning with an aim to support happiness in Stockholm, office design to support neurodiversity and a method to teach architecture at primary schools in Sweden.