A long time ago, before blogger was invented, I measured and draw by hand the Old City Synagogue with other two colleagues. I am an Architect too, and it was the start of a project meant to restore the former glory and transform the building into a concert hall. It did not happen, the building is still desert. It sits on a treasure, but there were never money. I was one of the happy few to inspect all the secrets of the house because I had to draw them, including the roof ornaments among pigeons.
Several years after I spoke about the sacred scents of the Tradition, it was soon after a major archaeological finding related to scent took place in Israel which brought me new elements. One of the most interesting aspects are not the texts of the Old Testament which were many times analyzed by all schools. The medieval interpretation and what is known as Jewish cuisine is much more appealing for the modern nose. For instance the pastry, which is little known in Paris, is an endless source of inspiration. When tradition (text) is combined with experience, archaeology and the study of what people thought about several ingredients (lost and found again) the truth emerges between the lines.
Inside the Old City Synagogue the most interesting element is the organ, it was designed in Budapest in the XIXth century, it is highly decorative, yet modernistic. I own the original old drawings and ... they can be any time transformed into something about perfumes. After all, there is no difference between Bach and scent composition. "The nose is an organ" is not a metaphor for the wise composer. Unlike other buildings in the city, this one is built on rock and the Jewish community here was rather spared during WWII compared to Poland. The logo I use since many years is inspired by the pavement and ceramic tiles found in the Synagogue and in the house of the Jewish Community on the same street. It was built before the Berlin Neue Synagogue, but shares the same Moorish revival style.
A famous Jewish perfume with the star on the bottle was made by one of the biggest German houses before WWII. I have the formula of the line (even the powder). The formula was updated after WWII with new ingredients and became one of the most fabulous American perfumes. It contained all the "old stuff" things needed to make a true perfume, things which are not taught at ISIPCA, but somewhere else :)
Temples are never metaphors for a perfume maker.
Perfume is invisible architecture
... which starts in Egypt with many special things
Perfume is invisible architecture
... which starts in Egypt with many special things
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
