Sensory Architecture
Architects account for light, acoustics, thermal comfort. Atmospheric comfort — the olfactory layer — is rarely designed. It is usually managed reactively.
Sensory architecture is the bundle of inputs a body receives in a built space. Sight and hearing dominate drawings and specifications. Smell and the feel of air on skin enter later, if at all — often as complaints rather than constraints.
Reactive management — air fresheners after the fact, aggressive HVAC overrides — treats symptoms. Designing for atmospheric comfort means earlier decisions: materials, envelope tightness, kitchen exhaust paths, and where people actually sit relative to supply air.
When the olfactory layer is considered alongside light and acoustics, spaces feel more settled. The building does less compensatory work, and the people inside do less unconscious adaptation.