Abstract
Walking is approached not merely as a bodily act but as a phenomenon shaped by its historical, cultural, and spatial meanings, along with its relationship to the ground. Its historical continuity has made walking a constitutive element of social norms and bodily behavior patterns. The study seeks to reconceptualize walking not as rhythmic, standardized motion but as a relational experience, foregrounded through its intentional disruption. Such disruption prompts a questioning of biological and cultural codes, as the body becomes fragile when departing from the habitual. The first phase, conducted in Istanbul, explored the disruption of walking through body-movement experiments using a podal extension. The second phase, carried out in Samsun through a researcher-led workshop, invited participants to examine the material aspects of walking and reflect on embodied experience. Overall, the study offers an experimental and critical ground for rethinking the body and the act of walking.
Keywords
Disrupting Walking, Somaesthetic Design, Podal Extension, Materiality of Walking, Bodily Awareness
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1757
Citation
Bagan, Z.G., Erman, Y.H., and Bilgic, G. (2026) Disrupting Walking: Rethinking the Practice Through a Podal Extension, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1757
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Disrupting Walking: Rethinking the Practice Through a Podal Extension
Walking is approached not merely as a bodily act but as a phenomenon shaped by its historical, cultural, and spatial meanings, along with its relationship to the ground. Its historical continuity has made walking a constitutive element of social norms and bodily behavior patterns. The study seeks to reconceptualize walking not as rhythmic, standardized motion but as a relational experience, foregrounded through its intentional disruption. Such disruption prompts a questioning of biological and cultural codes, as the body becomes fragile when departing from the habitual. The first phase, conducted in Istanbul, explored the disruption of walking through body-movement experiments using a podal extension. The second phase, carried out in Samsun through a researcher-led workshop, invited participants to examine the material aspects of walking and reflect on embodied experience. Overall, the study offers an experimental and critical ground for rethinking the body and the act of walking.