Scale vs proportions

PROPORTION & SCALE

Do you know the difference between proportion and scale? Okay so this took me all of my 2-D class to understand, ya I know I'm slow. But once I got IT I knew that I would never forget. So to help anyone who doesn't no the answer to that
problem (or that took more than a minute to think about it) heres some help.

Proportion as defined by Websters is "a harmonious relationship of parts to each other or to the whole." So to break this down proportion is basically looking a something and comparing the size of its parts/elements to the whole. Like I can look at a building and think those columns are much to large for that building. See I'm comparing the columns (an element) to the building (the whole). Proportion!

Golden Section

The golden section, also called the golden mean, is a mathematical system of proportion that is used to create harmony in art and architecture. It can be defined as the ration between two section of a line. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887.

 

The Orders

The Greeks have given the world a lot of things, epic poetry, philosophy, democracy, gyros.... But when I think of 

Greece I think Parthenon, temple front, marble! Maybe its all the architectural history courses that I have taken or

maybe its having read both the Iliad and the Odyssey twice. 

The ancient Greek mathematicians and architects created a system of proportions to create beauty and harmony

with in the design of the buildings. The three main orders are Doric, Ionic and Corinthian (better know to the 

public as the plain one, the circular eye one, and the acanthus leaf one). 

 These three sets of proportions are so harmonious and pleasing that they have never really gone out of style 

from that time until now. The British Museum, with its use of the Ionic Order, is a great example of this enduring 

popularity. (Fun fact while the buildings facade is Greek Revival, dating back to the early 1800's, the museum 

houses the almost complete original frieze from the Parthenon.)

  

 

Renaissance Theories

During the Renaissance, in the 16th century, there was a large revival of classical architecture from the Romans and even the Greeks. One of the most important figures in this revival was Andrea Palladio, who was a Venetian architect that wrote The Four Books of Architecture in which he put a twist upon the traditional orders of proportions.

Palladio's Villa Foscari is a wonderful example of his proportions.

The Modular

Unlike the Classical Orders the Modular is a relatively modern proportioning system. It was developed by famed architect Le Corbusier in the 1920's. Le Corbusier used the golden ratio in his system for the scale of architectural proportions.  Yet he based it on a system of human measurement. He used this proportion system in his Villa Savoye.

Mies van der Rohe also designed with a modular system. His famous Glass House is based upon a system a proportion system. 

 

The "Ken"

Is a traditional Japanese unit of measurement that was created in the last half of Japan's Middle Ages. The ken is an absolute measurement which is based upon the size of a floor mat.

 

 

 Anthropomorphic

Anthropometry according to Websters is the study of human body measurements especially on a comparative basis. These dimensions are used in design of furniture to optimize products.  

 

 

Okay so thats Proportions! Now Scale!

  

Scale


A proportion determining the relationship for a representation to that which it represents. Also a certain proportionate size, extent, or degree, usually judge in relation to some standard or point of reference.