Proportion/Scale

Definition: Proportion is the relationship between the components of a design and how they relate together. Scale refers to size and is typically associated by a reference object. The most common reference object is design is the human body. The term "human scale" refers to this.

The Pantheon in Rome, Italy. 6//8/15

 This image was taken during our first week in Rome. I intentionally selected a view with pedestrians in order to communicate the proportion and scale of the Pantheon in relation to the human form. Our guide challenged the class to explore how many students it would take to wrap our arms around a column. In this way we were able to visually and physically have a better understanding of the proportions and scale of the Pantheon.

The proportion of classical columns themselves also directly relate to the proportions of the human form. The Pantheon contains Roman Corinthian columns which were adapted from the original Greek Doric columns. Of the Greek Doric, Vitruvius wrote "...they measured a man's foot, and finding its length the sixth part of his height, they gave the column a similar proportion, that is, they made its height, including the capital, six times the thickness of the shaft, measured at the base. Thus the Doric order obtained its proportion, its strength, and its beauty, from the human figure" (de Architectura, Book IV). Human scale was the reference that inspired the proportions of the classical orders.

Analysis of Scale: Corinthian Column Base at the Pantheon in Rome, Italy 6/8/15

ICC at TTU in Lubbock, Texas

The Pantheon has been an enormous influence in architecture since the Renaissance. The Pantheon was the first structure to contain an occulus. Domed structures with a central element are often attributed to the Pantheon for this reason. In the image above the central element at the International Culture Center is visible and the relationship to the Pantheon is implied. The central element at the ICC proportionally references the occulus in placement, Comparatively, the ICC is constructed at a smaller scale than the Pantheon.