We contributed a sensory layer to the exhibition This Is Not a Forest at the Danish Architecture Center, developed by Archival in close collaboration with Dinesen Lab.

The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on how we perceive and understand nature once it has been transformed into architecture and design. Following the journey from forest to built environment, it explores the relationship between wood, architecture and our sensory experience of materials.

Architecture is often considered primarily through sight. Yet our perception of a place is formed through the stimulation of all the senses.

We notice the warmth of a material, the way sound moves through a room, the texture of a surface beneath our hand and the subtle smell impressions that inhabit a space. Together, these impressions shape what we often describe as atmosphere.

When wood is transformed into architecture, furniture or objects, it continues to carry traces of where it came from. Its grain, texture and smell all speak of a material that once existed as part of a living landscape. This relationship between material and memory is central to This Is Not a Forest.

Our contribution unfolds a sensory layer through fragrance that encourages visitors to engage with the material beyond its visual appearance. Rather than recreating the experience of a forest, the intention is to draw attention to the atmospheric qualities embedded within the material itself.

Carved out of the tree trunk pillars, smell pockets release notes of geranium, basil and lavender. Floating Leaf, a room fragrance profile used in the exhibition, evokes the freshness of a green, wet landscape – an atmosphere recalled through emotional memory rather than a direct representation of nature.

Photo credits: Hampus Berndtson, courtesy of Danish Architecture Center, and Claus Troelsgaard for Studio Pneuma.