Peter de Cupere
Smelloflowers

The nursing home was recently expanded with three pavilions that directly connect to the main entrance hall and house the demented elderly residents. Peter de Cupere was commissioned to design a number of landmarks that would tie in with these clients’ perceptions of their environment. He accordingly suggested the Smelloflowers.

It’s impossible to imagine a world without scents. Peter de Cupere even bases his work on scent by including it in installations, performances and instruments, such as the Smelloflowers. The latter work, which was placed in the center of the nursing home’s hall, consists of a collection of flowers made of stainless steel and coated with polyesters and epoxy. The collection is made up of three different flowers: the "Hyacgreenints", the "Tulorangeips" and the "Magbluenolias". Each species is distinguished by its form, color and structure and corresponds with one of the three wards. Each ward also features two bunches of Smelloflowers, one small and one medium-sized bunch of the same species and each pavilion has its own 'ward flower'. For example, the ward featuring the 'Hyacgreenints' also has this flower reappear on framed prints in each of its rooms. In this way, there is an orange, a green and a blue ward.

Each flower species has its own scent, which rises from the inside of the foot of the work, passes along the curved stems and exits through the filters. The scents can be adjusted according to season or specific event and De Cupere hired an aroma therapist to select the scents. Pine, eucalyptus and wild flowers are the obvious choices but the aromas of stews or pancakes can also bring back pleasant memories. All in all, the Smelloflowers facilitate the residents’ orientation in their physical surroundings, stimulate their senses and evoke emotions and memories from the past.