Imagining how other planets in our solar system might smell

London, 2019: Have you ever stepped off a plane in a foreign country and marvelled at the unusual and exotic smells? Each country and region has its distinct and evocative odour, created by the combination of climate, geology, flora, atmospheric pollutants, cuisine and so on. Now just think how remarkably different the smell of other planets might be....

This unique immersive sensory experience saw Bompas & Parr collaborate with perfumers, chemists and astronomers to create the scents of other planets, which were installed within sculptures created by artist Lucy Hardcastle, allowing guests to feel transported to the planets in our solar system through visual, olfactory and sonic stimuli.

The composition of the smell of other planets was determined by interpreting the findings of research devices sent to the surfaces of Mars and Venus along with knowledge around their atmospheric makeup. Bompas & Parr worked in collaboration with Design in Scent to compose the fragrances.

Part of Virgin’s Live Life Better content series, the event was presented in a crypt beneath St. John’s Church in the East End, to an interplanetary soundscape conceived by Louise Beer and John Hooper.