Latest news with #coppersmiths
Condé Nast Traveler
6 days ago
- Business
- Condé Nast Traveler
In Bosnia, a New Wave of Makers is Keeping the Art of Woodcarving Alive
This is part of a collection of stories spotlighting deeply rooted—yet sometimes less exposed—crafts hubs around the world and how to experience them. Read more here. Ping, ping. Tap, tap. Cling, cling. In historic Baščaršija, the Old Town of Sarajevo, I hear the metallic symphony before I see it. I follow the sound through the cobbled alleys of Kazandžijska čaršija, the centuries-old Coppersmiths' Quarter, where artisans have been shaping metal with mallets since the Ottoman Empire. Shiny objects spill from every storefront: pyramids of hand-hammered coffee pots glinting in the midday sun, disused mortar shells sprouting flower bouquets, trays of spent bullet casings fashioned into ballpoint pens. That remnants of a not-too-distant war are repurposed into kitschy souvenirs tracks with everything I've come to understand about Bosnia and Herzegovina—and its remarkably resilient people—over the past week. For every boot planted in a traumatic past, there are two eyes trained on a more hopeful future. Which is why Vitrina Concept catches my eye. Wedged between generations-old smithy shops, the slip of a storefront feels almost subversive in its modernity. Its window display is spare—warm wood tones and clean white space spotlighting hand-carved bookends, Junoesque bud vases, and traditional Bosnian coffee sets. Curious, I step inside. Konjic woodcarving, originating from the town of Konjic, is a UNESCO-recognized art form Courtesy of WAGA An artisan with the brand WAGA, which is reimagining Konjic woodcarving for modern times Courtesy of WAGA Naida Kraljić opened the boutique five years ago to marry two of Bosnia's most storied crafts: coppersmithing and Konjic woodcarving, a UNESCO-recognized art form passed down for generations in the town of Konjic, about an hour southwest of Sarajevo. Everything in Kraljić's shop is utilitarian—long-handled džezvas, ornately chiseled side tables—but every piece is influenced by long-standing traditions. I first learned about Konjic woodcarving from the excellent local tour operator Meet Bosnia. Founder Edin Ogrešević and his team launched Sarajevo's premiere Food & Craft Tour in 2021 to help preserve endangered crafts after noticing a deluge of more commercialized trinkets. As woodcarving, coppersmithing, leatherworking, and other trades fade, he says it's crucial to 'use tourism not only to tell their stories—but to help keep them alive.' Meet Bosnia offers private, artisan-centric tours to family-run workshops of all scales. A typical outing might include a visit to Zanat, the internationally renowned design brand, and Braća Nikšić, a more intimate atelier just a few doors down. Guests can watch aproned masters at work— chisels and gouges in hand—shaping, grooving, and whittling. As shavings of maple and walnut curl like ribbons on the workbench, a pattern slowly emerges—a Bosnian arabesque, at once geometric and organic, swirling rosettes, or maybe oak leaves and latticed starbursts. Courtesy of WAGA Zanat's CEO and co-founder, Orhan Nikšić, launched the brand's first official collection in 2015, but his family has been in the woodcarving and furniture-making business since 1919. Zanat means 'craft' in Bosnian, and today the company employs about 50 artisans. It's credited with opening a once male-dominated profession to women and preserving its history through The Konjic Woodcarving Museum. Inaugurated on the heels of the craft's 2017 inscription on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list, the museum honors the lives and livelihoods of Konjic woodcarvers and the entrepreneurial ingenuity that enabled the craft to survive multiple wars and political upheaval under socialist Yugoslavia.
Al Arabiya
14-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
The reconstruction of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange takes shape after a destructive fire
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Balancing on wooden boards, coppersmiths are hammering and fastening sheets of the reddish-brown metal onto the roof of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange. Fifteen months after a devastating fire destroyed more than half the building, a multistage effort to restore the 400-year-old landmark is beginning to take shape as workers lay a new copper roof on some of the less-damaged parts. Back in February, workers began dismantling what remained of the old green copper roof before carpenters could replace the wooden boards beneath. Now the coppersmiths are working through the summer to remain on schedule. 'The copper work, it's not sophisticated, but the way it's done is old school… we are doing it exactly as it was before,' said René Hansen of Danish coppersmith Toft Kobber. He said that only about 35 people have knowledge of such old techniques in Scandinavia. A violent fire Early in the morning of April 16, 2024, a fire tore through the sprawling red-brick building, largely destroying its copper roof and toppling its distinctive 56-meter (184-foot) spire in the shape of four intertwined dragon tails. Two days later, a large section of the building's outer wall collapsed inward. Construction of the exchange, a major tourist attraction in the heart of the Danish capital, started in 1615, and it first opened in 1624. The fire is believed to have started under the roof, which had been wrapped in scaffolding because of renovation work. Police said in November that nothing pointed to the blaze being the result of a criminal act. The building's owner, Denmark's Chamber of Commerce, says it plans to rebuild the landmark by 2029. It aims to reopen the damaged but not destroyed Stock Exchange Hall by the end of this year. 'Our ambition is in December this year to open one of the floors,' said Lars Daugaard Jepsen, the head of reconstruction. 'That is very, very challenging, but we will make it.' Once the huge white construction tent now covering the building comes off, locals are likely to notice at least one big difference. Hansen said that due to reduced air pollution, it could take 60 to 80 years for the new copper covering to achieve its predecessor's turquoise hue through the chemical reaction known as patination. 'We are driving electric cars, a lot of people are bicycling,' he said. 'In the past, it took about 30 to 40 years before it started to get green, and now we think it will take about 60 to 80.' A new spire The dragon-tail spire – a lead-covered wooden construction – will be rebuilt too, though that is still a while away. Work to design it is due to start next month, and building work is slated to get under way in 2028. A sculptor is still being sought. Daugaard Jepsen said the building was rebuilt eight times over its 400 years. The plan now is to rebuild it as it was four centuries ago, with a more magnificent ballroom. The aim is to use the same materials that were available in the 17th century. More than 800,000 handmade red bricks have been ordered from Germany and Poland, almost 900 pine trees are being brought from Denmark and Sweden, and recycled copper comes from Finland. 'That's the way to rebuild a building like this,' said Daugaard Jepsen. 'In the real way.'
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
The reconstruction of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange takes shape after a destructive fire
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Balancing on wooden boards, coppersmiths are hammering and fastening sheets of the reddish-brown metal onto the roof of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange. Fifteen months after a devastating fire destroyed more than half the building, a multistage effort to restore the 400-year-old landmark is beginning to take shape as workers lay a new copper roof on some of the less-damaged parts.
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
The reconstruction of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange takes shape after a destructive fire
Balancing on wooden boards, coppersmiths are hammering and fastening sheets of the reddish-brown metal onto the roof of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange. Fifteen months after a devastating fire destroyed more than half the building, a multistage effort to restore the 400-year-old landmark is beginning to take shape as workers lay a new copper roof on some of the less-damaged parts. Back in February, workers began dismantling what remained of the old green copper roof, before carpenters could replace the wooden boards beneath. Now the coppersmiths are working through the summer to remain on schedule. 'The copper work, it's not sophisticated, but the way it's done is old school … we are doing it exactly as it was before,' said René Hansen of Danish coppersmith Toft Kobber. He said that only about 35 people have knowledge of such old techniques in Scandinavia. A violent fire Early in the morning of April 16, 2024, a fire tore through the sprawling red-brick building, largely destroying its copper roof and toppling its distinctive 56-meter (184-foot) spire in the shape of four intertwined dragon tails. Two days later, a large section of the building's outer wall collapsed inward. Construction of the exchange, a major tourist attraction in the heart of the Danish capital, started in 1615 and it first opened in 1624. The fire is believed to have started under the roof, which had been wrapped in scaffolding because of renovation work. Police said in November that nothing pointed to the blaze being the result of a criminal act. The building's owner, Denmark's Chamber of Commerce, says it plans to rebuild the landmark by 2029. It aims to reopen the damaged, but not destroyed, Stock Exchange Hall by the end of this year. 'Our ambition is, in December this year, to open one of the floors,' said Lars Daugaard Jepsen, the head of reconstruction. 'That is very, very challenging, but we will make it.' Once the huge white construction tent now covering the building comes off, locals are likely to notice at least one big difference. Hansen said that, due to reduced air pollution, it could take 60 to 80 years for the new copper covering to achieve its predecessor's turquoise hue through the chemical reaction known as patination. 'We are driving electric cars, a lot of people are bicycling,' he said. In the past, 'it took about 30 to 40 years before it started to get green, and now we think it will take about 60 to 80.' A new spire The dragon-tail spire — a lead-covered wooden construction — will be rebuilt too, though that is still a while away. Work to design it is due to start next month, and building work is slated to get under way in 2028. A sculptor is still being sought. Daugaard Jepsen said the building was rebuilt eight times over its 400 years. The plan now is to rebuild it as it was four centuries ago, with 'a more magnificent ballroom.' The aim is to use the same materials that were available in the 17th century. More than 800,000 handmade red bricks have been ordered from Germany and Poland, almost 900 pine trees are being brought from Denmark and Sweden, and recycled copper comes from Finland. 'That's the way to rebuild a building like this,' said Daugaard Jepsen. 'In the real way.'
Associated Press
14-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
The reconstruction of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange takes shape after a destructive fire
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Balancing on wooden boards, coppersmiths are hammering and fastening sheets of the reddish-brown metal onto the roof of Copenhagen's Old Stock Exchange. Fifteen months after a devastating fire destroyed more than half the building, a multistage effort to restore the 400-year-old landmark is beginning to take shape as workers lay a new copper roof on some of the less-damaged parts. Back in February, workers began dismantling what remained of the old green copper roof, before carpenters could replace the wooden boards beneath. Now the coppersmiths are working through the summer to remain on schedule. 'The copper work, it's not sophisticated, but the way it's done is old school … we are doing it exactly as it was before,' said René Hansen of Danish coppersmith Toft Kobber. He said that only about 35 people have knowledge of such old techniques in Scandinavia. A violent fire Early in the morning of April 16, 2024, a fire tore through the sprawling red-brick building, largely destroying its copper roof and toppling its distinctive 56-meter (184-foot) spire in the shape of four intertwined dragon tails. Two days later, a large section of the building's outer wall collapsed inward. Construction of the exchange, a major tourist attraction in the heart of the Danish capital, started in 1615 and it first opened in 1624. The fire is believed to have started under the roof, which had been wrapped in scaffolding because of renovation work. Police said in November that nothing pointed to the blaze being the result of a criminal act. The building's owner, Denmark's Chamber of Commerce, says it plans to rebuild the landmark by 2029. It aims to reopen the damaged, but not destroyed, Stock Exchange Hall by the end of this year. 'Our ambition is, in December this year, to open one of the floors,' said Lars Daugaard Jepsen, the head of reconstruction. 'That is very, very challenging, but we will make it.' Once the huge white construction tent now covering the building comes off, locals are likely to notice at least one big difference. Hansen said that, due to reduced air pollution, it could take 60 to 80 years for the new copper covering to achieve its predecessor's turquoise hue through the chemical reaction known as patination. 'We are driving electric cars, a lot of people are bicycling,' he said. In the past, 'it took about 30 to 40 years before it started to get green, and now we think it will take about 60 to 80.' A new spire The dragon-tail spire — a lead-covered wooden construction — will be rebuilt too, though that is still a while away. Work to design it is due to start next month, and building work is slated to get under way in 2028. A sculptor is still being sought. Daugaard Jepsen said the building was rebuilt eight times over its 400 years. The plan now is to rebuild it as it was four centuries ago, with 'a more magnificent ballroom.' The aim is to use the same materials that were available in the 17th century. More than 800,000 handmade red bricks have been ordered from Germany and Poland, almost 900 pine trees are being brought from Denmark and Sweden, and recycled copper comes from Finland. 'That's the way to rebuild a building like this,' said Daugaard Jepsen. 'In the real way.'
