Abstract

The urban form is often viewed as a series of spaces through which we travel, navigating ourselves by way of cognitive spatial recognition, using exterior markers and our own inner construct of the world. It is suggested that odours have the ability to affect our behavioural and cognitive process and form markers that aid in the construction of a spatially organized world.

Building in the Olfactory Experience is an examination by survey within a selection of urban forms of the degree, extent and level of detail with which we perceive odours and the degree to which they provide added meaning or contextualisation to spaces. It broadens current knowledge by providing an odour survey format and suggesting how odour can be manipulated by adopting recognised urban design techniques.