• A breath of fresh air with Aoiro We visited Aoiro’s Berlin studio to discover more about scent design
‘The city is breathing and fully alive, generating constant changes, as if it is trying to explore how it could evolve.’

Words by Elin Jones
Photographs by Paul Aidan Perry for ’This Orient
2018 Jan 04

A breath of fresh air with Aoiro

Japanese for ‘the colour of blue’ Aoiro is a studio for olfactory design founded by Japanese Austrian duo Shizuko Yoshikuni and Manuel Kuschnig. Based in Berlin and Tokyo their expertise lies in the interpretation of concepts and from their light-filled experimentation studio the pair create bespoke signature scents for products and air design.
We visited Aoiro’s Berlin studio that directly overlooks a park, facing bright and open sky. On the roof they also have a small botanical garden, where Shizuko and Manuel are growing different fragrant plants; a place they describe as a “very peaceful island to recharge”. Despite the serenity of the location, it’s also important that their workspace and surroundings also include interaction and stimulation to help them get inspired. They explain that their city “has many layers and facets, which offer an impressive scale of capacity and uncountable possibilities to explore. For doing what we do, we truly appreciate the openness of Berlin. It is not offering us a stable nor centring quality as such, but maybe for that reasons, there is very little structure to restrict how things are supposed to be done”.
When it comes to inspiration, it seems Aoiro can find in the smallest of place, “at the moment we are exploring different possibilities with an organic essential oil of Shiso leaves and its exceptionally crisp and potent characteristic opens up a whole new world of scent compositions and atmospheres which could relate to it”, they excitedly explain. These kind of wide-ranging ingredients form the basis of their compositions and explain the delicate and thoughtful resulting fragrances that Aoiro produce.
Coming up for Aoiro is the release of a new scent series called Hakudo Rain, which is inspired by the atmosphere of a forested Japanese island after rainfall. Beside a pure botanical room perfume, this series will include incense made in Awaji Island and also will extend through several collaborations with Japanese craftsmen (traditional ceramic and iron maker) for scent objects in limited quantities.
To find out more, visit Aoiro’s website here.