46 Scale
Scale Scale, a cousin of size, is a subjective rather than objective term. With size, one can say, “that building is twenty feet tall,” but with the scale, it has to be relative to something else, such as the building is three times the size of the man. For example, in the image of the massing composition on the top right, none of those stones are larger than two inches, but it is not apparent from the picture how big each of the stones is. One can only garner how big they are relative to each other. Same with the continuous plane exercise on page 47. The model’s height is about sixteen inches, but that is not obvious from just looking at that picture. Architects use scale in a variety of ways. It can be distorted to seem larger or smaller than it should be. Scale can also be used to give the viewer an idea about the size of a design. People are frequently used as comparisons in these images, such as in the image of the front of Notre Dame in Paris, where the people give a sense of how big the cathedral is. While the doors on Notre Dame are enormous, doors, stairs, and other features can usually give us a greater idea of “human” scale. (continued on page 48).
