For this assignment, I ventured into a small alley in-between two condo complexes, close to 63rd avenue and Yukon Street. Because the alley was linear and well delimitated, it would give me a clear ‘sample space’ to record the smells I encountered.
Doing so was not easy, however. Olfactive science is complex, and one single, isolated smell may be the result of a myriad aromatic compounds. Plus, it was pretty cold outside that day: differentiating smells was not easy. In any case, I divided the broad smells I encountered into 3 categories, represented in the perspective and plan below.:
- In BLUE is what I identified to be the “core” ambient smell: the cold, crisp and fresh air and wet concrete. It was very faint, but omnipresent.
- In GREEN are the vegetal, green smells present in the enclosed alley: wet humus and soil, organic matter, freshly cut grass (maintenance workers had passed not long ago), decaying leaves, etc. That smell was varying in intensity (as shown in the plan) and was more dominant when the space was enclosed by the house blocks.
- In YELLOW is the strong industrial, chemical smell that was present at either end of the alley: the maintenance workers were packing their equipment and there was a dominant smell of diesel and gasoline there.
