The Bauhaus Missing Scents 
A Crossmodal Translation (2019) 

What does the yellow triangle smell like? 
How does a blue circle sound like? 
How does a red square move? 

Bauhaus established a rigorous system for form, color and composition, but its ideas stayed within the visual and material domain. In 2019, for the 100 years aniversary of Bauhaus, I extended that logic into a multisensory framework by translating basic shapes and colors into scent, sound and movement. 
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The approach shows how Bauhaus principles can be used to map relationships between modalities and how crossmodal structures can be constructed with the same clarity as visual ones. Bauhaus Missing Scents was created in response to the absence of olfactory work in the original Bauhaus movement, which otherwise explored all perceptual modalities like form, color, space, sound, and material. For the centenary, I composed new scents for key Bauhaus shapes and colors, translating visual forms into olfactory structures. The process mapped the geometry, color, and material qualities of iconic Bauhaus works into distinct scent compositions. Circles, triangles, and squares, as well as primary colors, each became the basis for a new olfactory piece, using principles of abstraction, clarity, and reduction that defined Bauhaus design. 

The creation provided the missing sensory dimension, completing the multisensory spectrum that Bauhaus began. By introducing scent as an equal element alongside shape, color, motion and sound, the project re-examined Bauhaus principles through the lens of crossmodal translation and contemporary sensory design.

DETAILS Coming soon

@2025 CAROLIN VEDDER

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