“For the installation I kept two themes in mind: one is the location, the other is the actual theme of the exhibition. The link happened very directly: talking about perfumes and fragrances, there could be no better place than a garden. This is one of the most beautiful old secrets of Milan, and it had to become a dream. The installations were divided into two parts: one is narrative, on a dream level, the part devoted to designers and their installations for eight vanished perfume brands. The other part is a historical journey that tells the story of perfume, its evolution. The context of the garden led to the idea of greenhouses: each was a small world, taking visitors on a different journey. The first trip is to enter the garden, the second is to enter the houses.”
Ferruccio Laviani, set-up curator

“I was seduced by this project, because it gave me a different story to tell. And a very vast story at that. Perfume is very subjective, you can interpret it, imagine it, and you can create your own personal story. They asked me to interpret old fra- grances, reimagined by talented designers. The scent that I created is an illustra- tion of what I have read about the history of each brand, but also of what I knew of each designer. It’s a nice combination, because it’s like a spiritual team: there is a brand that has disappeared, a famous designer and myself. The designer has to translate the brand’s history in the bottle: people are first seduced by the bottle, and then by the fragrance. I hope the people who visited this exhibition went home happy: perfume makes people happy, and when they are happy they take better care of the planet.”
Gérald Ghislain, olfactory curator

“I think perfume has a very special meaning: it awakens old memories, it reminds us of encounters we have had, things we have done. Also, perfume sets people’s mood and often changes their attitude towards events. So each of us has a par- ticular predisposition towards scents. I look to the future with optimism, when I see young people who want to really change things. The best investment in my life is what allows me to stay in touch with the most creative young people.”
Yelena Baturina, Be Open Founder

 

 

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Yelena Baturina
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Ferruccio Laviani
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Gérald Ghislain
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Jean-Marie Massaud
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Fernando and Humberto Campana
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Dimorestudio
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Tord Boontje
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Piero Lissoni
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Jaime Hayon
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Front
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Nendo

The Houses of Wonders Pavilions

 

Scent and Psyche
by TORD BOONTJE
Waldes et Spol Pavilion

“I wanted to represent the sensual side of fragrance in the form of an interior in which someone lives who personifies the perfume. Waldes et Spol is a Czech brand that closed in 1938. Prague was the capital of Bohemia. I designed an interior that was Bohemian in character, with a sofa, a table with plants, and fans that move gently, blowing air over aromatic plants to scent the place.”
Tord Boontje

 

Veredas
by FERNANDO and HUMBERTO CAMPANA
Biette Pavilion

“The idea was to bring a bit of the atmosphere of central Brazil, in particular the area of Bahia. For our installation we were inspired by a cave in Bahia called Veredas, in which to display the perfume bottle. This is why the idea of sea crea- tures arose. The relationship between design and the world of the senses lies in visual and sensory wellbeing.”
Fernando Campana

 

 

Pioggia Botanica
by DIMORESTUDIO Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran
Bertelli Pavilion

“We used a decoration typical of the Art Deco period, reinterpreted in a con- temporary way in terms of colors and materials. It is based on the sensation of discovery, triggered mostly by the bottle, seen as a meteorite, a spatial element catapulted into this sort of room.”
Emiliano Salci

 

 

Fragrance Particles
by FRONT Anna Lindgren, Sofia Lagerkvist and Charlotte von der Lancken
Guyla Pavilion

“The brand Guyla had a bottle decorated with flowers. In 1920 they were typi- cal Art Nouveau decorations, inspired by nature. We wanted the installation to reflect the idea of something that comes from nature. We created a cupboard, like a grate, so plants could grow on top. It is a piece of furniture that bonds with nature.”
Sofia Lagerkvist

 

 

Kuriopotek by JAIME HAYON
Felix Boissard Pavilion

“I looked through the lens of an alchemist of the past, bringing the brand into the present through a work of fantasy. There is a table and a cabinet of curiosities, full of vessels, lamps, perfume bottles and other accessories typical of a sor- cerer. Each of these surreal thing s is made by skilled hands in glass, clay and leather, mixed in an explosion of forms.”
Jaime Hayon

 

 

Lundborg e il laboratorio di un naso
di LISSONI ASSOCIATI – Piero Lissoni
Lundborg Pavilion

“Lundborg was founded in New York over a hundred years ago. I reinterpret- ed the packaging, the bottles, the logo, the aesthetic vision of the perfume: I imagine perfume factories as been somewhere between alchemy, research, magic and sensuality. So the pavilion displays a marvelous machine I have imag- ined could remake the perfume a hundred years later.”
Piero Lissoni

 

Fandango di NENDO – Oki Sato
R. Koehler & Co Pavilion

“We have traced the outline of the bottle of the antique perfume, making the shape visible, with the little tube inside the new bottle. The tube is of two types: the first is in cool colors, the second in warm colors. The two bottles are re- spectively called Fandango -12.3ºC and Fandango +23.1ºC, indicating the aver- age temperature in winter and summer in Moscow, where R. Koehler & Co. was located. The two colors represent the crisp scent of winter and the passionate scent of summer.”
Nendo

 

 

Bertif, Timeless Scent by JEAN-MARIE MASSAUD
Bertif Pavilion

“Perfume belongs to an immaterial, intimate world. In my project I wanted to highlight skills that are being lost; today everything focuses on mass communi- cation, on the enhancement of the brand. I have designed something that goes to the essential, namely the scent; revealing the essence of an alchemical pro- cess and capturing it in something that is not packaging or branding, but simply a glass vial that contains the fragrance.”
Jean-Marie Massaud

 

 

 

 

A Journey Through Scents Pavilion

 

The pavilion focused on the history of perfumes and their classification, present- ed by the perfume historian Elena Vosnaki: the itinerary, divided into twelve stages from the time of the Pharaohs to the present, narrated anecdotes, char- acters and discoveries that have marked and enriched the history of perfume. For each of the sections, olfactory curator Gérald Ghislain created an original fragrance. A golden table also presented eight families of fragrances used to classify perfumes.

 

 

A Vision in a box Pavilion

 

The exhibition “The Garden of Wonders – A Journey through Scents” was the second phase of the larger project of Be Open Foundation “Made in…”, which investigates the fertile relationships between design and the world of excellent small companies. The founder of Be Open Yelena Baturina, appointed ambassador of WE-Women for Expo, has made a donation to the Orto Botanico di Brera for the construction of a Pool of Thoughts, created by the Milan Polytechnic, to be built in autumn 2015.

 

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Voyage by Mist-o, a little bird on a branch, conveying a sense of freshness and joy
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Submarine by Thukral & Tagra, in the form of a submarine, indicating the expression of hid- den desires and emotions
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Volute by Philippe Bestenheider, a sinuous frost- ed glass box
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Ray Moore by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, a geometric shape carved out by the force of the perfume
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Srebro by Victor Vasilev, a silver flask, essential, functional, refillable
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Euterpe by GamFratesi, with a silver pendulum in the hollow base, which makes sound
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Crystal Ball by Karim Mekhtigian, a bottle inspired by the roundness of the Earth
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Coral by Werner Aisslinger, a container coated with an organic shape of hexagonal modules
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Spiny by Analogy Project, a bottle with thorns to protect the valuable content
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Float by LucidiPevere, a bubble of perfume enclosed in a block of cast glass