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Research · 2026-10-03
The RIHA protocol, in ten steps
Before it exists in a bottle, every creation must go through ten steps, from the field to publication. Here they are, and how we will make them visible.
By La maison RIHA
- Exploring the place — a visit by a qualified nose, at different hours or seasons when relevant.
- Sensory observation — natural, architectural, craft, culinary and human smells.
- Documentation — photographs, olfactory notes, audio recordings, location, weather, context.
- Interviews — residents, artisans, historians, people who hold the memory of the place.
- Historical research — archives and cultural resources.
- Identifying materials — natural materials and accords able to represent the observations.
- Interpretation by a perfumer — olfactory brief, formulation, trials.
- Sensory validation — by professionals and, where possible, by residents who know the place.
- Traceability — observations, sources, formula and validation date are kept.
- Publication — a transparent account of the work done.
Five kinds of information
On every record we distinguish documented fieldwork (research actually carried out), collective memory (testimonies gathered), historical research (archives and sources), olfactory interpretation (the composition, which remains an artistic creation) and work in progress (what is not yet finished).
The documentation level shown is never declared by hand: it follows from the missions, testimonies and sources actually recorded.