The Scent Of A City
Alternative ways to experience urban spaces: Smell
Did you know that the dominant scent of Edinburgh on a breezy day is that of malt extract from the beer factories? Or that late spring in Amsterdam smells like sweet powdery waffles?
This jutted out thing on our faces that we call a nose is one of the most powerful tools of sensual experience. According to scientists, smells connect us to the environment and do not decay over time.
Figuratively speaking,
our olfactory sense is a built-in time travel machine.
It is capable of momentary location-displacement and is known for bringing back even the furthest memories (opposite to visual memory, smell can be accurate even decades after the original stimulus).
Seems like taking a smell tour around the city will do you more good than snapping a kilometer of pointless pictures, right? To some people it’s not a new idea.
Smellwalks by Victoria Henshaw
Victoria Henshaw, researcher and author of the book “Urban Smellscapes”, invites people to take part in her smellwalks and ponder on how different aromas contribute to our perception and memories of place.
Sensory maps by Kate McLean
Another amazing woman with a kick-ass nose, Kate McLean, constructs sensory maps which include smellscapes, tastescapes, even touchscapes!
In her smell maps, Kate traces the diffusion of aromas throughout the city and even creates samples of various scents for you to sniff: penguins, fish and chips, boy’s toilets in primary schools…
Smellscapes by Sissel Tolaas
Going further, the famous Berlin-based smell researcher Sissel Tolaas has been collecting smells in the metro area of Kansas City for five years! She used to extract them from physical objects and preserve in a form similar to perfume.
Tolaas then turned her project into a true smell scavenger hunt: participants were invited to explore their city by following their olfactory sensors and hunt down 20 hidden scratch-and-sniff cards.
Ready to give it a sniff?
Here are five tips by Victoria Henshaw how to smell the city:
1. Stay sober, healthy and hydrated. Illness or nausea can dull the performance of a scent and even cause a bad stomach reaction. Our noses also require a proper level of fluids in order for the smell receptors to read the odors.
2. Choose a variety of settings. Go out and discover contrasting places: from open to enclosed areas, green to concrete landscapes, from serene parks to busy roads, markets, etc.
3. Use your other senses to lure out the scent. Some smells only appear when approached right so rub the leaves of plants, listen for ventilation systems and try to guess what store they belong to. Turn it into a game.
4. Give your nose time to rest. We get adapted to the scents around us quite fast. When on a smell tour, give your nose some time to restart. Try tucking your nose inside the crook of your arm for a moment (also, try not to look creepy doing it).
5. No room for embarrassment here. Stop worrying of what others will think of you when you smell the dirty pavement. As Henshaw says…
Sniff the good, sniff the bad, sniff the boring and sniff the downright balmy…
You’ll be amazed by what you might discover in the process.
