Body, material, emotion. How does Nikolai Hewelt design spaces that touch?

Ola Skorupa

03 of July '25

Podcast Foundations 10#

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Nicholas Hewelt -
podcast #10 of the series "Foundations"

The episode and the entire series are also available on Soundcloud and Spotify:

What is architecture that begins with emotion, not with a line in CAD? Is it possible to design that comes out of image, touch and personal experience? In the 10th episode of the "Foundations" podcast, we talk with Mikolaj Hewelt, a graduate of the Sopot Academy of Applied Sciences, an architect and artist who paints, creates spatial installations and designs responsive architecture - emotional, sensual, rooted in cultural context.

architecture that feels

For Mikolaj Hewelt, architecture does not begin with a functional program, but with image, texture, emotion.

I design from the inside, not from the form," he says.

His first language was painting, and he treats a painting not as a flat surface, but as a space - rhythmic, bodily, alive. This approach carries over into his architectural projects and installations. In focus: sensuality, skin-like structures, materials, the body as form and context.

Abakanovich as a point of reference

A strong inspiration for the young architect is the work of Magdalena Abakanowicz.

-For me, her works are more space than sculpture. Raw, bodily, moving. In his eyes, Abakanowicz is a figure of world format - the Polish equivalent of Picasso or Monet, whom we are only beginning to rediscover and appreciate.

In his diploma, the young architect tried to translate the language of painting into architecture. He did not create a classical building, but a space built from ideas, rhythm and texture. He chose the place - Gdynia - consciously. The modern, open, inclusive port city became a symbolic backdrop for his "soft" architecture - one that speaks through light, texture, emotion.

between artist and builder

Although his approach may seem unpolished, Nikolai Hewelt insists that design must always be an encounter between emotion and technique. He speaks respectfully of designers who help transform ideas into real structures. He learns from them, but does not want to abandon his path. - I don't want to copy. I want to build my own language," he says. His dream is an architecture that works functionally, but also moves.

Practice and inspiration from the Tricity and Malaga

During his apprenticeship at the renowned Kwadrat Architectural Studio, he saw that it is possible to create architecture that is embedded in context - conscious, high quality, deeply rooted in material. In turn, a trip to Malaga - the city of Picasso - made him realize how culture can celebrate its creators. And us? Are we able to? - he asks

Nikolai Hewelt today creates not only on paper, but also in space - he paints, builds, experiments. The exhibitions he plans increasingly touch on themes of corporeality, belonging, sensuality. And his architecture? It's an attempt to tell the world through a form that not only looks, but feels.