Victoria Henshaw, University of Sheffield

Fragrant Cities: Bridging the gap between Environmental odour practices and more positive roles

for smell in city life

• Spatial smell design: examples

• Characteristics of smell

• Smell and the city

• To finish: in Policy?

• Questions/Discussion

Session Structure

Spatial smell design:examples….

“Instead of displaying drawings, models and photographs to illustrate

an architect’s work and ideas, ‘Sensing Spaces’ offers visitors the

opportunity to engage with architecture directly and to

experience it through their bodies and senses”

Christopher Le Brun, President, Royal Academy of Arts

“The experience will start from normal light levels and move towards

something darker as the smell deepens, so the lighting conditions

and the intensity of the smell change simultaneously”

Kengo Kuma, Architect

Characteristics of Smell

• Smell and taste closely linked

• Role of the Trigeminal nerve

• Little evidence on pheromones

• Habituation/adaptation

• Smell sample

• There are few, if any universally liked or disliked smells

Characteristics of smell

41%

34% 34%

27%25% 24%

20% 19%

13% 13%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Favourite Smells

Survey of 100 people asked to outline their top 5 most favourite smells

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f re

spo

nd

ents

Smells

55%

34%

27% 25%

18% 16% 15% 14% 13% 11% 11% 11%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Least Favourite Smells

Survey of 100 people asked to outline their top 5 least favourite smells

Smells

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f re

spo

nd

ents

34%27% 25% 24% 22% 20%

13% 13%9%

1%5% 3%

8%4% 2% 1% 1%

55%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Most favourite odours Least favourite odours

Most/Least Favourite Smells

Survey of 100 people asked to outline their top 5 most and least favourite smells

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f re

spo

nd

ents

• up to £155,250 for total loss of sight

• £52,950 to £63,625 for total loss of hearing

• £14,500 to £19,100 for total loss of smell

• £11,200 to £14,500 for total loss of the sense oftaste

Note: Touch is a more complex process in valuation terms

(http://www.foxclaims.co.uk/Claims.htm)

Insurance claims advice (UK)

In a survey of its 485 members, the charity Fifth Sense UK found:

• 56 per cent felt alone and isolated as a result of their condition

• 85 per cent were afraid of being exposed to dangers such as gas or spoiled food

• 42 per cent suffered from depression

http://www.fifthsense.org.uk/(results updated April 2014, unpublished)

Retention interval for pictures and odours (Engen, 1977)

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

Retention Interval over 12 months

% C

orr

ect

Reco

gn

itio

ns

Pictures

Odours2wks

2wks

3mths

4mths

12mths

Smell and the Cityhttp://smellandthecity.wordpress.com/

Sennett (1994) describes the

"…sensory deprivation which seems to curse most modern buildings; the

dullness, the monotony, and the tactile sterility which afflicts the urban

environment".

Increasingly the whole world has come to smell alike: gasoline,

detergents, plumbing, and junk foods coalesce into the catholic smog of our

age.”Ivan Illich, 1985

Tourism SmellscapesDann and Jacobson (2003)• investigation of prevailing smell perceptions in accounts of

towns and cities as tourist destinations

• a literature review of 100+ classical and contemporary texts including writings of independent travel journalists

Findings

• urban smellscapes portrayed far more negatively in these texts than rural smellscapes: 56% of all urban accounts negative, 25% of all rural accounts

• urban accounts varied according to the period in which they were written, being most negative during the modern period

• They conclude: towns and cities should retain, or recreate as ‘authentically’ as possible, their historical physical infrastructure whilst attempting to remove all negatively perceived odours, introducing new more pleasant varieties (ibid: 19-20).

I take people on smellwalks

3.25

22.25

2.75

43.75

3.25

2.5 2.5

3

3.75

3.25

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Priory Walk Collonades Silver Street Copley Road Markets Frenchgate

place

smellscape

Place and Smell Liking RatingsA statistically significant relationship was identified between these two factors.

(Based upon analysis of responses from all 52 participants)

Ave

rage

Rat

ing

(1-5

)

Area

Urban smellscape management & control processes (Henshaw 2014)

Separation

Separation

Separation

Deodorisation

Materials

Deodorisation

Masking

Masking

Masking

Scenting

Scenting

Yanagida et al. (2002-2006) http://vrlab.meijo-u.ac.jp/~yanagida/scent/index.html

Scenting

“I think the more we de-sanitise our lives, smell is part of that de-sanitary thing, it’s to the detriment really to the quality of our experience of cities and

places”

(Urban designer and food specialist)

“…you go to London and you’ve got the bustle which is visual, spatial… then you’ve got the smell of the people with the food … the noise and there’s the

music blurting out… and the traffic as well… the smell is part of that buzz, that activity, without smell it’s

not quite as strong. It’s a bit like my sense of smell, I still have a life and I still enjoy my life but it would be a little bit better with the smell… if you go to Covent

Gardens… and if you take the food smells out it’s kind of 5 or 10 per cent of the big thing”

(Chair of the local Civic Trust)

To finish: in policy?

The UK’s Urban Design Compendium (2000) on designing high quality urban realm. The Compendium asked ‘What scents can be added?’ explaining:

‘The experience of a place can be heightened by its aromas - whether the scent of flowers, coffee or fresh

bread. Even if unpleasant to some, others may consider certain smells to provide the essence of a place - such as the smell of yeast reflecting the presence of a brewery.

Birmingham's Brindley Place, for instance, combines the sound of water from fountains and an aromatic coffee shop, which draws people into its centre and creates a

lively source of activity’.

To finish: in policy?English Heritage (2010) Guidance on undertaking historic area assessments,

‘static visual attributes are supplemented or modified by a range of other factors derived largely from movement, sounds and smells, including such things as… perfumes arising from gardens and the smell of certain industrial

processes or effluents’.

UK online planning guidance – design section (March 2014):

‘The way a place looks, sounds, feels and smells affect its attractiveness and long term success’

Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance

Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance

The early morning market and traditional cityscape of HidaTakayama

Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance

‘the scents of liquor and soy sauce from Kurayoshi white-mud wall storehouses’

Japan’s 100 sites of Good Fragrance

‘Kanda’s streets of used bookstores’ in Tokyo

Questionsv.henshaw@sheffield.ac.uk

http://smellandthecity.wordpress.com/@VictoriaHenshaw