A lifelong learner
Taraneh Naddafi - Founder
Architect | Olfaction Artist | Perfumer | Designer I Collaborator
Taraneh is an olfactory designer, perfumer, and award-winning architect based in California. With a master’s degree in architecture from Tehran and further studies at Vienna University of Technology, she has contributed to over ten AIA-awarded projects and international competitions. Her modular ecological designs have been featured in top design publications like IDEAT, California Home + Design, Elle Décor, and Nano Houses and Micro-Architecture.
Her passion for scent began at age three—enthusiastically dispersing her mother’s Chanel No.5 throughout the house, leaving behind trails of floral bliss. However, her curiosity took an unexpected turn when she ended up in the ER after lodging a strawberry-scented eraser in her nostril. Fond childhood memories of making puddings infused with rose water and cardamom with her mother and grandmother deepened her love for fragrance.
This lifelong fascination led her to explore essential oils and plant-based materials, inspiring her to create natural, healing scents. She seamlessly blends olfactory artistry with sustainable architecture, crafting immersive sensory experiences that promote emotional well-being while encouraging mindful environmental choices. Her expertise lies in designing both fragrances and architectural spaces that enhance everyday living.
Beyond scent and architecture, Taraneh is also a passionate artist, integrating nature-inspired sketches and ink drawings into her product designs.
My Philosophy
My first olfactory project, “AKASHA – the Essence of Nature,” is an organic skincare line crafted with Cradle-to-Cradle principles—an approach I’ve integrated into my architectural and design practice over the past 20 years. This holistic framework ensures efficiency and eliminates waste. At archiSCENTer, I apply these same principles to safeguard and enhance the cycle of organic, pure plant materials used in olfactory design.
I use ancestral extraction methods that have been largely abandoned due to industrialization, believing that naturally scented materials should nourish both our bodies and the environment.
My passion for scent has also led to collaborations with artists, mapping fragrances and expressing them through multi-sensory art. Each olfactory design reflects spatial relationships, material authenticity, and the ecological, cultural, and climatic systems in which it exists.
I welcome collaborations on unique, multi-sensory design projects—let’s create and transform the world together.
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Event design consultation
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Gallery and design/art festivals and showings