Image note
Three original interpretations of earthen enclosures & palace sequences, informed by Royal Palaces of Abomey. These images explore material and spatial ideas; they are not documentary views or measured reconstructions of the reference. The palette is drawn from the material portrait.
Publication credit: The Chromologium.
Image credits and reuseThe colour strip is the entry’s study palette. Artwork sources and image credits and reuse terms are recorded in the archive.
Artwork recordThree views of one material idea.
Abomey’s royal palaces were built within related enclosures over successive reigns. Shared spatial and material conventions connected each new palace to the existing royal complex.
Read the material study01 / Reading the material
Through the enclosure
Abomey’s palace complex can be read through successive boundaries. Repeated material conventions connect separate places, while entrances and courts establish differences in access and function. The sequence is more informative than a single wall presented as a standalone monument.
02 / From surface to space
Read the whole.
Then the edge.
Imagine following a route rather than looking at an elevation. An opening first frames a court, then releases the view into a wider space. Drawing that alternation helps explain how an ensemble can feel coherent even when its parts were developed across different reigns.
Read the route through successive boundaries rather than treating the palace as a single facade. Which thresholds mark a change in access or authority?
03 / Colour in context
A palette you can work with.
Five tones drawn from the material portrait. Select a colour, compare it on paper and ink, or copy its value into your own study.
Surface
#a35b31
Colour values & paper / ink comparison
oklch(0.547 0.110 49.145) · primary
The colour stays fixed as its surroundings change.
Try the bench exercise
04 / At the bench
Make the observation tangible.
Make a plan study using walls, openings and two connected voids. Keep the material palette narrow and let threshold placement create hierarchy. Avoid borrowing royal symbols simply to decorate the resulting composition.
Keep a view of the whole beside a close detail. Note the material, lighting and the one variable you changed.
Source & orientation
Keep the reference close.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (n.d.). Royal Palaces of Abomey. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
The material readings and bench exercise are editorial studies of this particular reference. The artwork explores its material ideas; the linked source documents the place.
Artwork & cartographic records
Artwork record · Geographic plate record. Map geometry: Natural Earth, public domain. The archive follows its map’s place names, including territories and disputed areas.
A closer look
Questions about this study
What does this study of Benin focus on?
Abomey’s royal palaces were built within related enclosures over successive reigns. Shared spatial and material conventions connected each new palace to the existing royal complex.
Where can I find the original reference?
Royal Palaces of Abomey, published by UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The artwork explores the reference’s material ideas; the linked source documents the place.
What could I try at the bench?
Make a plan study using walls, openings and two connected voids. Keep the material palette narrow and let threshold placement create hierarchy. Avoid borrowing royal symbols simply to decorate the resulting composition.
Continue by material
