Invisible Architecture. Experiencing Places through the Sense of Smell

The resin-scented wood of the Swiss Pavilion by Peter Zumthor at the Hannover Expo, the hypo-oxygenated air of Diller+Scofidio’s Blur Bar, the sculpting air stream of Renzo Piano’s Wind Tunnel in Maranello, the placebo odors of Decosterd & Rahm, and the edible air of Marti Guixé’s Pharma Food are just a few of the most recent instances of an architecture that is seeking to reappropriate the invisible dimension of olfaction in order to imbue the experience of places with greater meaning and totality.