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ences, or moves in a free, > roaming fashion. In contradistinc-
tion to a structure of tension between masses within which
our own bodies are confronted by other bodies in space, we
retreat with our bodies behind our role as players. Uncon-
strained, freed from the gravitational forces of architectural
masses and the influence of walls, without being guided along
paths or channels, one follows one’s own impulses towards
movement. In this respect, a playing field is related to a dance
floor. In some instances, the conventions of ceremony supply
the rules of the game for movement on open squares and in
large halls.A performative counterpart in architecture to defined spa-
tial configurations is the corresponding figures of movement.
Comparable to the way in which a pattern of dance steps,
guided by music, shapes bodily experience, such figures con-
sist of characteristic sequences of > movements guided by the
built design and grasped and stored in bodily memory as > ge-
stalt schemata, which can be performed again later as needed.
The significance of figures of movement for architecture,
which goes beyond visual perception, is emphasized by
Goethe: ‘In dance, we experience pleasant sensations while
moving according to certain laws; a similar sensation ought to
be evoked in a person who is led blindfolded through a well-
constructed building’ (1795/1973, 108). In actual > use, ar-
chitecture is primarily shaped by specific and often recurring
patterns of activity and schemata of movement, while visual
form remains in the background. Basically, as Karlfried von
Dürckheim has demonstrated, every spatial structure gener-
ates a ‘counterform’ consisting of real or potential movements
that are reflected in a ‘movement formula’ characteristic of
the respective space (2005). Acquired through gradually in-
creasing familiarity, they offer security of movement.
Even the smallest units are identifiable as elements of fig-
ures of movement. The climbing of a > staircase, for example,Figure of movement