Olfactive Design

Course

Space and scent are related. Scent travels through space through air and moisture, wood or laminates, telling past stories, anticipating the future to come. Scent can attract or repel, can convey comfort or anxiety, create powerful memories. Smells are linked to places as well as to nature, to divinity, to illness, to sex, to food, to the everyday, to the extraordinary, to the evanescent, to life!

The “Design of the Invisible,” related to smell, is not a monopoly of the beauty and perfumery industry. Perfume, with all its ramifications, also belongs to Architects, Designers, Anthropologists, Sociologists, Psychologists. Professionals who, like all of us, are constantly immersed in the daily invasion of the smells that surround us, from the delicious to the repulsive.
The Olfactory Design Course will investigate the olfactory territories of places, objects and materials, including its historical evolution, imagining new scenarios, creating new experiences, in one of the least explored and exciting fields of Design of all time.

In our new world, “Sensoriality” plays an important balancing and emotional role. Today’s hierarchy of senses must be revised and Design in all its forms must encourage the incorporation of scent into its creative process.

Gallery

Some numbers

Didactics

Attendance

80 hours. One day a week – 4 hours a day – Wednesday (14/18 pm- Italian time)

The lessons will be held in blended mode. Classes take place in person but students who will not be able to move to Milan may attend online in a syncronous mode.

Training objectives

POLI.design “Olfactive Design Course” is the first course in the world dedicated to Designers and Architects. It is therefore not related to the world of cosmetics and perfumes, personal care, or cleaning products. It is aimed at Designers who interact with the invisible dimension of air, building materials and their qualities.

Participants will acquire design skills that will enable them to create new experiences and concepts.

Being able to interface with Specialists (Chemists, Inventors, Regulatory Experts, etc.) they will understand the opportunities offered by scent, processes, and application challenges, and will consequently be able to offer new creative ideas to their clients and audiences.

Didactic Modules

This executive course provides the tools and design skills, the method, to become an Olfactory Designer.
This job profile is of high demand in the hospitality, retail, interior design, branding, and manufacturing market, as well as in the experience sector, from museums to entertainment.

This course is the first in the world entirely devoted to the education and training of future Olfactive Designers. Upon completion, their newly acquired unique skills will enable them to communicate constructively with design studios, companies, installation engineers, and marketing departments on how to incorporate scent into design in creative and innovative ways. The professional, trained through this course, will be able to act as Scent Officer for hotel chains, retail, factories, entertainment, and other institutions that understand the potential and power of smell as a stimulus, signature, and point of difference.

Future Scent Designers will be able to act as consultants for companies dealing with indoor air quality, residential and office environments, in the choice of materials that can absorb or diffuse odors, odor neutralization, antibacterial efficiency as well as for emotional marketing actors.

This executive course provides the methodological tools and design skills to become an Olfactory Designer, with professional applications ranging from interior design to product.

The Course content consist of:

• 7 Online Sessions divided into Olfactive Neuroscience, Olfactive Chemistry, Olfactives Displays, Ventilation and Air Indoor, Art, Perfumery, Design and two workshop in presence.

Special consideration will be given in the program to international and multicultural elements, from climate to customs. Areas of application include, but are not limited to:

• Retail
• Hospitality
• Factories
• Schools
• Transportation
• Home decoration
• Event industry
• Trademarks

Title Released

At the end of the course, students who will have attended for at least 80% of the total hours will obtain a frequency open badge to the course released by POLI.design.

At the end of the Executive Course will be issued an attendance certificate in Olfacitve Design by POLI.design.

POLI.design reserves the right not to activate the course in case the minimum number of enrolled students will be reached or in case the requirements in terms of didactic, logistic, administrative support, etc. will fail for any reason.

Employment Opportunities

POLI.design “Olfactive Design Course” is the first Course in the world dedicated to Designers and Architects. It is consequently not related to the world of Cosmetics and Perfumes, Personal Care or Cleaning products. It is aimed at Designers who interact with the invisible dimension of air, building materials and their qualities.

Participants will acquire design skills that will enable them to create new experiences and concepts.

Having had access to Specialists (Noses, Chemists, Inventors, Regulatory Experts) they will understand the opportunities offered by scent, processes and application challenges, and will as a result be able to offer new creative ideas to their clients and their public.

Admission

Requirements

The course is intended for students, technical graduated and non-graduated professionals who wish to know the principles and methodologies of olfactive design.

Deadlines

Deadline for the application: September 16, 2025.

Price

The total cost of the Course is 3.660,00 € for each student. This sum will be paid in a single payment at the time the private contract is signed. The participation fee must be paid in a single solution.

PROMO

EARLY BIRD -10%
The promotion for those who have clear ideas, know which educational path can enrich their future, and can’t wait to get back to the classroom.

Application deadline: July 15, 2025
Deadline for sending the signed contract and the payment of the participation fee: no later than July 31, 2025

FAMILY SUPPORT: -50%
A chance to gift your siblings the encouragement they need to invest in their future.

BACK TO SCHOOL: -30%
The discount for those who have already trusted POLI.design and Polimi, and wish to return to study and build their future.

POLI.NETWORK: -50%
A promotion designed to strengthen the bond and identity among members of the Politecnico di Milano community.

FRIEND TO FRIEND: -20%
An opportunity to gift to a friend to make education the foundation of their growth.

MORE THAN ONE: -15%
A discount for those who want to perfect their skills, for those who continually invest in education, not just once but multiple times. Thus:

• For those who purchase two Courses, the discount is equal to 15% on the participation fee of the least expensive educational path
• For those who purchase three Courses, the discount is equal to 15% on the participation fee of the two least expensive educational paths

BUSINESS BOOST
The discount designed for companies that recognize training as a crucial factor for growth.

The “Business Boost” discount provides a variable reduction on the participation fee for two or more employees in catalog courses. Specifically, the discount amounts to:

• 15% on the participation fee for the second employee’s enrollment
• 20% on the participation fee for the third employee’s enrollment
• 25% on the participation fee for the fourth employee’s enrollment

Companies wishing to enrol at least 5 employees in one or more courses of the Service Design and Innovation Cluster will have access to a customized offer.

SUPPLIERS: -10%
A promotion for those who collaborate or have collaborated with POLI.design. Our way to say thanks and share knowledge.

Attendance Benefits -20%
Partial exemptions of 20% for the second employee enrolled in the same course.
Requirement to file the request: self-certification stating that the employees belong to the same company plus the required documents for the selection process.

Faculty

Scientific Director: prof. Anna Barbara

Partners

Past editions