Germany will shut down its remaining black coal mines by the end of this year. This plan seals the fate of the sector that powered the country’s industrial revolution and post-war economic miracle. Since its early beginnings in the early 1970s this fundamental shift has had widespread implications the former...
Rotten eggs on the road?
A car is a means of transportation. This is obvious. What is less obvious however is that the car shows specific sensory or even olfactory qualities: A car uses smelly petrol or diesel. Driving a car even turns the vehicle into an openair-design machine. At the end of the day...
A sociology of smell
“Smell is in the nose of the smeller, but also in the culture of the smeller.” – ANTONY SYNNOTT
He suffered death and was buried
The entombment of Christ is one of several standard representations of Jesus’s suffering and death at the hands of the Romans. According to the Christian tradition Pontius Pilate granted Joseph of Arimathea permission to take Christ’s body down from the cross for burial. In addition, the gospel according to John...
Designing products for a new scent culture
The ongoing normalization of ambient scent creates a growing need for diffusers. In most cases diffusers convey some distinct atmosphere: it might be somehow esoteric or rather technical. But there are very few products we have seen so far that seem to resonate with current design culture.
When will there be a professor for olfaction & space? And where?
The University of Applied Sciences & Arts Hildesheim is looking for a new professor for “light & space” for its department of lighting design. Reflecting on the olfactory turn we slightly rewrote the official job opening:
Odorama on car smells at Mediamatic
We have been looking at cars as “olfactory artifact” for quite a while. In fact, the automobile sector is part of a larger interest in the aesthetic and experience economy.
Scents beyond conventional perfumery
There is a long lasting history of dealing with scent in pop music. More recently, Jeans for Jesus, a widely known player in the local pop music scene in Switzerland, made an interesting move:
Scent Culture Initiative: Gelungener Nose Cocktail in Zürich
Unsere Scent Culture Initiative erlebte einen kurzweiligen Abend mit bekannten und vor allem auch neuen Gesichtern und Ideen aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen. Lucas Heusser hatte Drinks und passende Düfte vorbereitet. Möglich war dies dank befreundeter Geister im Hintergrund: Mayumi Matthaeus von Süskind. Merci an alle fürs Kommen, Ideen und Weitersagen… Beim nächsten Mal...
Ocularcentrism
“Now sight is superior to touch in purity, and hearing and smell to taste.” – ARISTOTELES
Sensory typography: How does your letter smell?
Graphic designer Sarah Hyndman thinks that the shape of a letter can impact the way stuff tastes, smells, and sounds. To her, typefaces are multi-sensory experiences that affect the way we interact with the world around us.
Smelly typography
Can letters smell? How can typography smell? This school project experiments with smelly materials – in this case onions. Interestingly, there is even an economic layer of meaning: Apparently, onions are expensive in India! Sneha Keshav: “An experimental type done as a school project. Seems apt right now, given the...
Smelly theory of private property
The genesis of private property has been a recurring theme in political philosophy since ancient times. In his essays on the five senses the French philosopher Michel Serres proposes a “smelly theory of private property”:
Scent design influences the behaviour of people in crowds at Eindhoven
In addition to light, sound, color and other design dimensions scent is increasingly used to influence human emotions and behavior. Aromatherapy is the discipline that has developed this expertise and knowledge of centuries. Scent Marketing is currently an obvious case. But there are also non-commercial contexts as this story from...
Smithsonian Design Museum: Design Beyond Vision!
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will present “The Senses: Design Beyond Vision” . In the 1980s the Swiss design thinker Lucius Burckhardt coined: “Design is invisible“.
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