Studio Paul Chan transformed a 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival bell tower in Los Angeles’s Koreatown into Elorea, a sculptural perfumery and café. The design explores how scent can be experienced spatially—through light, material, and rhythm. A looping figure-eight display creates a ritualistic journey under the building’s historic dome, where guests meander through top, heart, and base notes like a living fragrance.

Materials were chosen for contrast and tactility: charred Shou Sugi Ban wood evokes ancient coastal craft, while CNC-milled aluminum and dark reflective glass inject a cyber-industrial edge. The inverted ziggurat form of the perfume bar nods to ceremonial altars, while the stone bar top has a hand-finished texture reminiscent of ink-wash landscapes. At night, underlit perfumes shimmer like votive candles, heightening the sense of intimacy and reverence.

The café extends this ritual of translation—offering drinks inspired by the perfumes themselves, blending taste and scent into shared experience. This is more than a boutique—it is an immersive environment where hyper-modern forms are wrapped in elemental materials, and architecture becomes a vehicle for feeling.