Inside the World’s Largest Fragrance Museum
2025 Best of Year Winner for Museum/Art Gallery
Holding the Guinness World Record for the largest museum of its kind, the 75,000-square-foot center Xuelei Fragrance Museum in Guangzhou, China, is dedicated to the experience of fragrance. Commissioned by Xuelei, a popular Asian beauty brand, Leaping Creative crafted a journey through the global history of perfume, incense, and aromatherapy, incorporating interactive technology and engaging the sense of smell. Inside evocative brick architecture by the Shenzhen Huahui Architectural Design Institute, 50 exhibits are spread across six levels accessed by a winding statement staircase. Rounded forms, cylindrical displays, and curved walls evoke glass eau de toilette bottles in a series of thematic zones. Visitors’ reactions to various aromas are captured at 300 profiling stations before an AI agent on the ground floor transforms the data into a personalized fragrance, culminating in a custom keepsake scent blended and bottled in under three minutes.
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