FIELD NOTES / BEN / Western Africa
Benin
Earthen enclosures & palace sequences.
START WITH A PLACE
Royal Palaces of Abomey
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 source UNESCO World Heritage CentreA CLOSER LOOK
A study in mass and surface.
Read the route through successive boundaries rather than treating the palace as a single facade. Which thresholds mark a change in access or authority?
An editorial observation prompt, grounded in the reference above.
WORKING COLOUR
A palette to begin with.
Five editorial tones for this surface family. Use them as a starting point for a study; they are not measured samples from the site.
Limestone paper#eee7d8oklch(0.929 0.021 85.945)
Warm sediment#c6ad86oklch(0.760 0.060 78.678)
Earth ochre#a36545oklch(0.568 0.092 47.550)
Weathered slate#657d79oklch(0.569 0.029 184.084)
Carbon ink#282b2boklch(0.286 0.004 196.917)