Invisible Architecture

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.
Anna Barbara, graduated in Architecture, is doing researches about the way the senses are connected with architecture, design, art. In the 2000 she won the Canon Foundation Fellowship that she spent at Hosei University in Tokyo. She has been visiting professor at Kookmin University and at the Techno Brain Master 21 at Seoul, and professor at Università dell’Immagine in Milan from 2000 to 2005.
The relationships between senses and spaces are one of the main centre of her interests developed in publications, teachings, curatorial and professional works. She is the author of Storie di Architettura attraverso i sensi (Bruno Mondadori, 2000) and many other publications. She is professor at Polytechnic of Milan, Polytechnic of Piacenza and NABA at Milan. She is Coordinator of Fashion and Textile Design School of NABA. She holds a firm in Milan named LAB_ where she tries to interweave senses, people, experiences, architecture, design, fashion, etc.
From 2000 she is based in Milan but still working for international companies.
Anthony Perliss, raised in California, went to New York City where he studied creative writing. There he worked in the film and photography industries. He continued his studies in Milan, specializing in the analysis of the image through the senses at Università dell’Immagine. He currently lives in Paris where he works translating scent into image for a multinational company that develops perfumes for luxury brands. Through painting he is conducting a visual investigation of the structure of natural forms.