Yelizaveta (she/her) is our Storytelling studio expert. She is a critical spatial practitioner working at the intersection of art and architecture. In her practice, she experiments with formats of social gatherings and smaller-scale experimental architecture. Socio-natural divide is one of the most prominent topics in her work that she explores through the prism of human-water relationships. As a part of her practice, Yelizaveta initiates temporary alternative spaces for communal bathing. Her work ranges from spatial design and architecture to furniture-building, writing, teaching, curating, (material) research. Together with her collaborator Nina Glockner she also researches and consults collectives and institutions on their organisational structures. Yelizaveta had been a participant in the UNESCO Chair’s training program ‘Beyond Museums. Tools for promoting the natural and cultural water heritage’ as well as receives training in physical theatre and movement & mobility. In her daily life, she finds balance through walking and exploring the land/cityscape as well as coming in touch with inspiring stories be they in the shape of books, podcasts, films or theatre.

Yelizaveta’s fascination with stories started with bedtime reading by her parents as well as her sister’s talent for inventing imaginary worlds that they would inhabit together through games and plays. Since then her love for storytelling only grew stronger and found an outlet through education in visual storytelling. By switching to the field of architecture Yelizaveta started to explore the narrational potential of spaces and more abstract and intuitive ways of storytelling through embodied experiences. A good story draws you in, it makes you feel, it opens the doors to perspectives beyond one’s own. But how does it achieve that and where does it come from in the first place? Yelizaveta hopes to accompany you on your journey of experimenting with ways of locating threads of thoughts and experiences and weaving your stories into existence. She will be able to advise on entry points, references and various approaches to storytelling within more defined disciplines such as literature, film, folklore, illustration etc. However, since to tell a story one first needs (to learn) to be curious, to listen, notice, sense and relate, Yelizaveta feels it can also be an inspiring practice to look into for people who might not have a defined goal in mind but who want to expand their capacity to see the world from different perspectives and engage with it more deeply.