Image: claude.attard.bezzina | Flickr

I came across an interesting article recently entitled Scent as Design. In it, the author discusses topics that were brought up during a recent symposium that was held to promote thought on the implications of using scent in design. To no surprise, it was shared that within today’s “modern lifestyle” we typically tend to “cover up” and “clean up” scent — without tapping into the vast potential which it holds. It seems that many of today’s cultures trend toward eliminating scent, without accentuating it — even though everything has a smell.

Just think about that for a moment, everything has a smell. Don’t you think that architects today should uncover what this widely underestimated sensorial stimuli can hold for their designs? But now that we know that the olfactory sense is significant, what should we begin to do as designers to make our creations even better?

When Scent Can Enhance the Visual

I was particularly struck by a particular thought from the above mentioned article that says that stimulating the olfactory sense in your design can help your occupants be more present. So, if your occupants were more present within your design — might your occupants function better and feel better when within it? Also, might the incorporation of scent help you as an architect attract your occupant’s attention at a certain moment during your occupant’s experience of your designed built environment?

In the article Scent as Design, it was noted that when experiencing scent, an occupant may inadvertently “tag” an object or make “associations” with it. Of course, you can see proof of this already by simply thinking about the branded scent of a particular perfume or the smell of a new car. In and of themselves, scents can actually become part of a brand, a style or even a culture. If you look hard enough, you can see many examples of this in today’s world, and certainly, I think there is much untapped potential when you really begin to delve into what designing for your occupant’s olfactory sense can do for your work.

As architects, it is time to think about smell as more than just being good or bad, associated with food, a new car or even perfume. Tapping into the power of the olfactory sense will mean a refinement of your own “palette”. As you go through each day, you should start to become consciously aware of the different scents you experience both while outdoors and indoors. Soon, you will begin to realize that there is an almost “invisible” dimension which you can integrate into your design work to make your architecture pop in all the right places.

Think of Traveling Through a Space With Only Your Nose

With this post, I will leave you with one last question for you to ask yourself:

If you were to travel through your architectural built project using only your sense of smell — would you be able to find your way? How would you distinguish transition between spaces? And how would you know what to do and when? Also, how would different scents make you feel, think or behave?

Already, you are probably thinking of some basic smells which you identify with certain spaces. For instance, what smell do you think of when you envision a bathroom? A bakery? A church? Or a school?

Now, push the boundaries of the “default” smells that come pre-attached with your building materials. You should use smell on purpose to create entire olfactory environments. Escape from the “cover-up” mentality. Go beyond simply making everything smell clean. Use your design talents to push the envelope — what might different scents do for a school for instance? Furthermore, what might different scents do for different classroom types within that school? Should the art room smell different from the math room or even the computer lab?

Then, start to think about how smell can impact not only emotional and intellectual associations, but then be processed through to occupant behavior. In short, it is time for you as an architect to get re-acquainted with your sense of smell — the often underestimated and untapped design resource with so much potential.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2010 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: © Dianka | Dreamstime.com

You walk into a room. You notice a certain aroma. You smell fresh cookies baking in the kitchen. Immediately, you remember your childhood days when your mother brought you fresh chocolate chip cookies.

Ok, this may seem a bit idealistic but smell and memory are linked. The article entitled Smell and Memory explains that of all the human senses, the process of smelling takes the longest to reach the brain, and once you do smell, the smell lasts longer than other senses. This leads to the assumption that smell and memory are linked in different ways as compared to the other senses; and yes, this is an important differentiation.

If the latter is true, then when you design, you instantly trigger memory the moment someone walks into your building. You see, memory is intrinsically linked with learning. So, the minute someone actually smells within your space, they begin to learn, and the olfactory process can play a meaningful role.

So, how can you design better now that you know this knowledge?

SENSE OF SMELL CAN OPTIMIZE YOUR DESIGNS

Perhaps you can be more proactive as you design. Instead of letting the scent within your space just sort of happen as a by-product of all your other design decisions, you can instead think about what effect you want to have with your space.

This doesn’t mean that you need to go ahead and inject strange aromas with hopes that suddenly your design will be more pleasing without proof that this will work. However, did you know that some hospitals are beginning to design for the olfactory sense? Patients in some facilities are already benefiting from aromas (circulated through the air systems) that are more soothing, anxiety reducing and calming.

Think of what you want your occupants to experience within your architectural space, how you want them to navigate though it and where you may want them to stop and engage in activity. As a designer, think about ways to tap into the olfactory sense — use it to spark occupant behavior, thought, emotion and intellect. There are so many opportunities to capitalize on this sense: think hotel, restaurant, stores or even an airport.

I WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK…

I would love to hear your feedback on this post today, so leave me a comment down below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button! Thanks so much!

© 2008-2010 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman