BIH / Stone & substance
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Stone arches & the work of rebuilding
Develop a system from this study
Image note
Three original interpretations of stone arches & the work of rebuilding, informed by Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar. 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.
Mostar’s bridge and old town connect the two sides of the Neretva valley. The reconstructed bridge carries a history of destruction and restoration as well as a clear structural form.
Read the material study01 / Reading the material
The arch and the joint
Mostar’s bridge can be read as a continuous curve and as an assembly of separate stones. The first reading is immediate; the second asks the eye to slow down. Hold both together, alongside the history of destruction and reconstruction that a purely formal view would miss.
02 / From surface to space
Read the whole.
Then the edge.
A bridge turns two banks into a connected route. Its span is therefore both a figure in the landscape and a surface experienced while moving across it. Compare the distant profile with the approach at either end, where the elegant curve meets everyday urban space.
Trace the arch from one bank to the other. Compare the continuity of its profile with the individual stones and the history of their reconstruction.
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
#625241
Colour values & paper / ink comparison
oklch(0.450 0.034 68.495) · primary
The colour stays fixed as its surroundings change.
Try the bench exercise
04 / At the bench
Make the observation tangible.
Draw an arch first as one line, then as a series of joints. Use those two drawings together. Let an original material composition explore continuity and assembly while the source carries the bridge’s historical record.
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.). Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar. 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina focus on?
Mostar’s bridge and old town connect the two sides of the Neretva valley. The reconstructed bridge carries a history of destruction and restoration as well as a clear structural form.
Where can I find the original reference?
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar, 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?
Draw an arch first as one line, then as a series of joints. Use those two drawings together. Let an original material composition explore continuity and assembly while the source carries the bridge’s historical record.
Continue by material
