What is the Listening Room?

It is where R Parfums keeps the recordings from its scent exhibitions: spoken stories in English and Vietnamese, and one piece of music, the Pluviophile Suite. Everything plays here in the browser. Headphones are best, as they were in the rooms.

Which exhibitions are recorded here?

Pluviophile – The Rain Lover (19–31 July 2024) and Letters from 221B Baker Street: Scents of Shadow (6–15 December 2024), both at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, Ho Chi Minh City, and the music of Pluviophile Chapter 2 (16 July – 9 August 2026).

What is the Pluviophile Suite?

Thirty minutes of music made only from the 69-second background piece played at Pluviophile Chapter 2. The original returns untouched five times. A second version runs for eight hours, the same thirty minutes looped without a seam.

Can I smell the scents from these stories?

The story scents were made for the exhibitions. Three of the scents you can buy belong to these rooms: Pluviophile, 221B and Shadow Éclat. All six R Parfums scents can be smelled at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day.

What changed when the 221B rooms went to Hanoi?

Light and Shadow (14–20 February 2025, Tách Spaces, Hanoi) used the same 221B recordings, with one new greeting from Rei in Vietnamese, 1 minute 31 seconds long.

Stories in English and Vietnamese

Listening
Room

bring headphones

The Listening Room holds the recordings from R Parfums’ scent exhibitions in Saigon: seven stories of rain from Pluviophile (2024) and eight stories, with a greeting, from Letters from 221B Baker Street (2024), all told in English and in Vietnamese. The Pluviophile Suite (2026) is music, without words. Best heard on headphones, as in the exhibition rooms.

Visitors wearing headphones walk among white threads and glass raindrops at a Pluviophile exhibition — Pluviophile, at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu: headphones on, among white threads and glass raindrops.

At a glance

Recordings: Pluviophile: an introduction and seven stories. Letters from 221B: a greeting and eight stories. The Suite: 30 minutes, and an 8-hour version.
Languages: Every story in English and in Vietnamese. The Suite is music only.
Recorded for: Pluviophile, 19–31 July 2024 · Letters from 221B Baker Street, 6–15 December 2024 · Pluviophile Chapter 2, 16 July – 9 August 2026
Where it began: R Space, 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, Thảo Điền — An Khánh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City. The 221B stories also travelled to Hanoi in February 2025.

Shelf I · Music · Pluviophile Chapter 2 · 16 July – 9 August 2026

Pluviophile Suite

Throughout Pluviophile Chapter 2, the house at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu played a single piece of background music, sixty-nine seconds long, in D major. The Suite is made from that piece and nothing else: stretched, lifted an octave, played in reverse, heard from three distances, across thirty minutes.

The original returns untouched five times. Before each return comes a short flutter, like a wingbeat. Chapter 2 opened on that image: “It takes a wingbeat to see the rain.” A second version runs for eight hours: the same thirty minutes, joined end to start without a seam, made to play through a whole day in the room.

of background music, and every sound in the Suite comes from them: 69 s
The Suite: 30 min
The Suite, without a break: 8 h

Red, blue and clear glass raindrops hung on threads, in daylight — Glass raindrops on threads, from the Pluviophile rooms.

Shelf II · Pluviophile – The Rain Lover · 19–31 July 2024 · 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu

Seven stories about rain

Rei Nguyen’s first solo exhibition: another story about rain, from Vietnam to Japan. Seven scents were made for it, each with its own recorded story in Vietnamese and in English. A short introduction plays before the first.

Ink drawing for Pluviophile — Rei Nguyen, 2024 · translated from Vietnamese

00Introduction
Pluviophile — an introduction
Pluviophile – lời dẫn
Heard before the first story.
Before the first story
01Story 1
Green Green Grass
Cỏ xanh xanh ngát
Bare feet on soft grass, as in childhood: the moment the soles meet the earth.
Cut Grass · Violet Leaf · Wet Soil
02Story 2
Petrichor
Mùi đất sau mưa
After the dry days, the earth smiles at a passing shower. A scent of patient waiting.
Geosmin, Ozone · Hedione · Patchouli, Castoreum, Labdanum
03Story 3
Wet Umbrella
Cây dù ướt
The rain closes in on every side, and not a drop reaches you.
Wet Umbrella · Green Cucumber · Musk, Sandalwood
04Story 4
A Lonely Cloud
Đám mây cô đơn
A drifting cloud may join the others and fall as rain, or thin away to nothing. Either way, at heart it stays a lonely cloud, free and at ease.
Lemon, Petitgrain · Lily of the Valley, Ylang-Ylang · Amber, Vanilla
05Story 5
Rain on a Lake
Mưa trên mặt hồ
Rain lands lightly on a still lake and dances with every gust. Water meeting water, gently.
Pink Peppercorn, Grapefruit · Galbanum, Hyacinth · Vetiver
06Story 6
On a Wooden Bench
Trên băng ghế gỗ
Wood has a memory, and keeps the thoughts of whoever sits on it. Sometimes a single bench is all you need to think alone.
Bergamot · Geranium, Lavender · Cedarwood, Tonka Bean
07Story 7
Wild Flowers
Hoa dại
Below the tall trees, above the grass, slender wild flowers turn with the rhythm of the rain.
Basil, Sweet Orange · Bluebell, Daisy · Mahogany, Guaiac Wood

Pluviophile, the scent you can wear, keeps three of these rooms in its own story: a wooden bench, silver rain on a lake, wild flowers in the wind.

Pluviophile, Chapter II →

Shelf III · Letters from 221B Baker Street: Scents of Shadow · 6–15 December 2024 · 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu

Two rooms on Baker Street

Sherlock Holmes on one side, Professor James Moriarty on the other. Eight stories between light and darkness, and a greeting from Rei before the first door. Shadow Éclat was first shown to the public here, as the eighth story.

Before the first door

Greetings from Rei Nguyen

Lời chào từ Rei Nguyễn

Rei opens the door to Baker Street.

Room one · light

Sherlock Holmes’s Room

01
London Fog
Trong màn sương bụi giữa Luân Đôn
London’s silver rain and the fog that wraps the city. Fresh at first, then softly floral, warm and veiled at the end.
Ozone, Fog Accord, Petitgrain · Lily of the Valley, Orange Blossom · Sichuan Pepper, Amber
02
Depict “The Sign of Four”
Giải mã “Dấu bộ tứ”
Gunfire and thick smoke, and somewhere in it Holmes, pensive and aloof. Cold metal first, then spice, then tonka and gun smoke.
Metallic Accord · Saffron, Carnation, Nutmeg · Blood, Gun Fire, Tonka Bean
03
The Soul
Trái tim của kẻ liều lĩnh mộng mơ
Its Vietnamese title borrows the line 221B carries: the heart of the reckless dreamer.
04
Letters to 221B Baker Street
Lá thư gửi đến số nhà 221B đường Baker, Luân Đôn
A thank-you letter to Sherlock Holmes, Rei’s hero since childhood. Its notes are the notes of 221B.
Green Mandarin, Lemon, Blackcurrant · Rose, Osmanthus, Geranium · Birch Tar, Ambrette Seed, Leather, Peru Balsam, Tobacco

Room two · darkness

Moriarty’s Room

05
Professor James Moriarty
Giáo sư James Moriarty
06
The Napoleon of Crime
Kẻ chinh phạt bóng tối
Moriarty, “the Napoleon of crime”, arrives bold and proud: pink grapefruit, then rose, then patchouli, incense and leather.
Pamplemousse, Pink Grapefruit · Rose · Cypriol, Patchouli, Incense, Leather Accord
07
The Reichenbach Falls
Vực sáng
The falls where Holmes and Moriarty meet for the last time. Wet earth and hard rock at the edge, the drop behind; violet leaf and bluebell, light as running water; then moss, sandalwood and ambergris.
Wet Soil, Hard Rocks · Violet Leaf, Bluebell · Moss, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Ambergris
08
Shadow Éclat
Bóng đêm rực rỡ
Rei’s gift to Moriarty, and to the darkness within. Gentler than you expect; then sweet smoke, a touch of green, warm pepper and immortelle. Its first time in public.
Green Mandarin, Ozone, Magnolia · Geranium, Rose, Iris, Osmanthus Absolute · Immortelle Absolute, Black Pepper, Suede Leather

From 14 to 20 February 2025 the two rooms travelled to Tách Spaces in Hanoi, as Light and Shadow. The recordings were the same, with one addition: a new greeting from Rei in Vietnamese, 1′31″ long.

221B, Chapter IV →Shadow Éclat, Chapter V →Both exhibitions, in the Journal →

Shelves IV to VI

Room on the shelves

Recordings from the exhibitions to come will sit here, in both languages, beside the ones above.

Hear from us when a shelf is filled →

IVPluviophile Chapter 2 — the introductionPartly filled
VKept for the next exhibitionEmpty
VIAn open shelfKept for a recording not yet made.Empty

Questions

Before you press play

What is the Listening Room?
It is where R Parfums keeps the recordings from its scent exhibitions: spoken stories in English and Vietnamese, and one piece of music, the Pluviophile Suite. Everything plays here in the browser. Headphones are best, as they were in the rooms.
Which exhibitions are recorded here?
Pluviophile – The Rain Lover (19–31 July 2024) and Letters from 221B Baker Street: Scents of Shadow (6–15 December 2024), both at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, Ho Chi Minh City, and the music of Pluviophile Chapter 2 (16 July – 9 August 2026).
What is the Pluviophile Suite?
Thirty minutes of music made only from the 69-second background piece played at Pluviophile Chapter 2. The original returns untouched five times. A second version runs for eight hours, the same thirty minutes looped without a seam.
Can I smell the scents from these stories?
The story scents were made for the exhibitions. Three of the scents you can buy belong to these rooms: Pluviophile, 221B and Shadow Éclat. All six R Parfums scents can be smelled at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day.
What changed when the 221B rooms went to Hanoi?
Light and Shadow (14–20 February 2025, Tách Spaces, Hanoi) used the same 221B recordings, with one new greeting from Rei in Vietnamese, 1 minute 31 seconds long.

The scents in these rooms

All six scents →

Chapter II

Pluviophile

A Rain Reverie

It shares its name with the 2024 exhibition. Green leaves, rain and rhubarb open it; musk, anise and clove remain.

Choose a bottle

Chapter IV

221B

The Reckless Dreamer

The same notes as “Letters to 221B Baker Street”, the fourth story in Holmes’s room.

Choose a bottle

Chapter V

Shadow Éclat

Radiant Darkness

First shown in public as the eighth story, in Moriarty’s room.

Choose a bottle

Discovery Set: five 2 ml vials, Pluviophile and 221B among them · See the set

We currently deliver within Vietnam only. Visiting from abroad? Collect your order at any of our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day.

Time leaves a fingerprint.

On brass, over years. On skin, in an afternoon. A recorded voice keeps the hour it was spoken.

ListeningRoom

At a glance

Pluviophile Suite

Seven stories about rain

Pluviophile — an introduction

Green Green Grass

Petrichor

Wet Umbrella

A Lonely Cloud

Rain on a Lake

On a Wooden Bench

Wild Flowers

Two rooms on Baker Street

Greetings from Rei Nguyen

Sherlock Holmes’s Room

London Fog

Depict “The Sign of Four”

The Soul

Letters to 221B Baker Street

Moriarty’s Room

Professor James Moriarty

The Napoleon of Crime

The Reichenbach Falls

Shadow Éclat

Room on the shelves

Before you press play

What is the Listening Room?

Which exhibitions are recorded here?

What is the Pluviophile Suite?

Can I smell the scents from these stories?

What changed when the 221B rooms went to Hanoi?

The scents in these rooms

Pluviophile

221B

Shadow Éclat

Listening
Room