Can you smell this picture? What does it remind you of? For me, it reminds me of my favourite bakery–debatably a fast-food chain–Tim Hortons. Have you ever walked into a bakery only to be hit with the aroma of freshly baked goods? What a warm, homey feeling. Every single scent we smell can be associated with a feeling–even a memory. Sometimes I’ll be walking in the city and I’ll get a whiff of something. I won’t know what exactly it is, but I know it triggered a memory from the wave of nostalgia that hit. One time, I was showering with a new shampoo and then all the sudden I became really sad because the smell reminded me of my old music teacher! It sounds crazy, but I promise I’m not making this up.
According to an article on Medical News Today, smells can trigger memory recall because the amygdala (part of the brain which processes sensory), and the hippocampus (part of the brain which stores memories) are located close together. Researchers have identified scents that have associations with certain characteristics; this has become increasingly useful with marketing techniques, or even the recent rave around aromatherapy.
The idea of having a place smell a certain way plays a bigger role in landscape design than one would think. How would you like to walk into a beautiful garden but then have your nose assaulted with the smell of cow fertilizer or car exhaust? The smell of a place often sets the mood or environment. Additionally, each plant has a different scent or possibly scents depending on the season. With an infinite palette of plants comes an endless list of ambiances that can be created in a place. For example, the Alnap Rehabilitation Garden in Sweden uses a variety of plants to create textures and fragrances that please and calm human senses. The amount of thought and knowledge required to design such an atmosphere is just mind-blowing.
On a broader scale, the scent is only one of of the qualities that can influence a place. In a reading that was assigned for my orientation seminar class, I learned that sensory qualities are what give value to a place, what turns a space into a place. Smells greatly contribute to a community’s culture and enhance its uniqueness and diversity. And this diversity is what makes us human.
Thanks for reading this far! What are some scents that make you nostalgic? Are there places you have visited that had distinct aromas? Comment below!
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