Interdisciplinary studio based in Berlin merging art and design. Our projects are driven by curiosity—toward science, technology, materials, craft, food, and the senses. We explore how design shapes our perception of the world, placing sensory experience at the center of our creative process. Through a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, we develop new objects and concepts aimed at enhancing everyday well-being.

We believe design is both a powerful tool for solving real-world challenges and a medium for sparking dialogue—inviting reflection on the cultural, social, and ethical dimensions of contemporary life. Our studio works closely with private clients, architects, companies, and scientists to create unique design experiences, spatial concepts, products, and research-based projects.

This commitment to sensory exploration and critical design is further explored in Omer Polak’s TEDx talk, "Smell as a Design Tool", presented in Lausanne, Switzerland.

studio@omerpolak.com

Olfactory Forest

Installation at Trapholt Museum, SENSE ME Exhibition, Denmark, 2019

A sculptural scent and sound installation that immerses visitors in a sensory interpretation of the forest. Created for the SENSE ME exhibition at Trapholt Museum, Olfactory Forest invites audiences into a circular space of suspended Manau rattan canes—each emitting a distinct aroma and natural soundscape. The project reimagines our connection to nature through the body’s most primal senses: smell and hearing.

Forests, covering over 30% of the planet’s surface, are essential to ecological balance and human well-being. Yet with rapid deforestation and accelerated urbanization—projected to place 65% of the global population in cities by 2050—our contact with natural ecosystems is increasingly rare. Olfactory Forest speculates on a future in which forests become rare attractions, sought after like natural wonders of the past. What are the consequences for our mental health, sensory awareness, and emotional resilience if we lose daily contact with nature? Will we need to fake forests to sustain humanity’s sensory needs? And in doing so, will nature transform into myth—once again a place of mystery and fairytales?

The installation consists of 15 rattan poles, each releasing a different scent and sound collected from real forests. Using a custom-built “smell trap” (or “smell recorder”), we captured light odor molecules emitted by various forest organisms. These samples were analyzed at Symrise's laboratory, where a collaborative process between chemists and perfumers—including senior perfumer Marc vom Ende—transformed the data into eight original fragrances: mushroom, linden blossom, tree resin, moss, damp soil, animal sweat, broken wood, and young green leaves. Each scent carries distinctive olfactory notes with powerful emotional resonance.

Alongside the scents, miniature speakers embedded in each pole emit subtle, site-specific sounds: termites chewing through bark, moth wings fluttering, mosquitoes in flight, and more. The low volume invites visitors to move closer—sniffing, listening, and engaging deeply with the installation. This interweaving of olfactory and auditory cues became a central axis of the design process, merging the technical precision of molecular analysis with the intuitive, emotional craft of perfumery.

Olfactory Forest is both a multisensory experience and a speculative landscape. It highlights how estranged we’ve become from nature, while proposing scent as a potent medium for reawakening memory, imagination, and ecological empathy within urban life.

Credits:

Research project and installation by Omer Polak
Trapholt Museum, SENSE ME exhibition, Denmark, 2019 With support and collaboration with Symrise
Museum director: Karen Holdaway Grøn Curator: Katrine Stenum
Vera Westergaard, Architekt, Exhibits Director
Senior perfumer: Marc vom Ende , Symrise
Assistants: Alexandra Genis & Pauline préel.
Installation Production: Caecilia Verweyen
Lighting consulting: Patrick McCumiskey
Movie& Pictures by Pujan Shakupa & Stefan Stark
Font design - “Faune, Alice Savoie / Cnap”
Christina Witter - Director of Corporate Communications, Symrise.
Doris Beye - Director BU Consumer Fragrance Homecare EAME, Symrise.
Dr. Edison Diaz - Director of Applied Research EAME, Symrise.
Celina Koch - Technologist, Applied Research EAME, Symrise.
Eugen Keusch, der Korbmacher, Rattan expert.
Marco Breiter - Laboratory manager, creating lab, Symrise.