Timed scents

24 : 01 : 2017 IMM Cologne : Perfume : Design

Cologne – Patrick Palcic has designed a clock that uses perfume to tell the time.

  • The clock works by rotating slowly and releasing a different fragrance every hour
  • The designer wanted people to experience the passing of time in a new way
There Is Something In The Air by Patrick Palcic, Cologne There Is Something In The Air by Patrick Palcic, Cologne
There Is Something In The Air by Patrick Palcic, Cologne There Is Something In The Air by Patrick Palcic, Cologne
There Is Something In The Air by Patrick Palcic, Cologne There Is Something In The Air by Patrick Palcic, Cologne

Presented at this year’s IMM Cologne, the clock works by releasing a different fragrance every hour.

Aptly named There Is Something In The Air, the copper clock works by rotating slowly. When it hits the hour mark, perfume trickles through one of the 12 perforations and down the copper face, is heated and dispersed into the air. Because of the way the perfume reacts with the metal, light markings appear on the surface of the clock.

‘The olfactory clock enables the user to experience the passage of time in a different way,’ Palcic explained to Dezeen. ‘Instead of the time being read, as with other timepieces, it hangs in the air and is inhaled.’

The Big Picture

Some designers are choosing to explore our relationship with time through fragrance. For more on those creating time-sensitive scents, see Ritika Karnani’s RCA project and the Cinnamon Projects Activate.

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