Editing Human scale (section)

== Human scale in architecture ==
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[[File:Modulor measurements.svg|thumb|[[Le Corbusier]]'s [[Modulor]] scale of proportions]]
Humans interact with their environments based on their physical dimensions, capabilities and limits. The field of [[anthropometrics]] (human measurement) has unanswered questions, but it's still true that human physical characteristics are fairly predictable and objectively measurable. Buildings scaled to human physical capabilities have steps, doorways, railings, work surfaces, seating, shelves, fixtures, walking distances, and other features that fit well to the average person.

Humans also interact with their environments based on their sensory capabilities. The fields of human perception systems, like [[perceptual psychology]] and [[cognitive psychology]], are not exact sciences, because human information processing is not a purely physical act, and because perception is affected by cultural factors, personal preferences, experiences, and expectations. So human scale in architecture can also describe buildings with sightlines, acoustic properties, task lighting, ambient lighting, and spatial grammar that fit well with human senses. However, one important caveat is that human perceptions are always going to be less predictable and less measurable than physical dimensions.

Human scale in architecture is deliberately violated:

* for monumental effect. Buildings, statues, and memorials are constructed in a scale larger than life as a social/cultural signal that the subject matter is also larger than life. One example is the [[The Motherland Calls|Rodina (Motherland) statue]] in [[Volgograd]].
* for aesthetic effect. Many architects, particularly in the [[Modernist]] movement, design buildings that prioritize structural purity and clarity of form over concessions to human scale. This became the dominant American architectural style for decades.  Some notable examples among many are [[Henry N. Cobb|Henry Cobb]]'s [[200 Clarendon Street|John Hancock Tower]] in [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], much of [[I. M. Pei]]'s work including the [[Dallas City Hall]], and [[Mies van der Rohe]]'s [[Neue Nationalgalerie]] in [[Berlin]].
* to serve automotive scale. Commercial buildings that are designed to be legible from roadways assume a radically different shape. The human eye can distinguish about 3 objects or features per second.{{citation needed|reason=I was unable to find a reliable source supporting this. They mostly point back to this very entry.|date=April 2015}} A pedestrian steadily walking along a {{convert|30|m|ft|adj=on|sigfig=1}} length of department store can perceive about 68 features; a driver passing the same frontage at {{convert|50|km/h|m/s mph|abbr=on}} can perceive about six or seven features. Auto-scale buildings tend to be smooth and shallow, readable at a glance, simplified, presented outward, and with signage with bigger letters and fewer words.  This urban form is traceable back to the innovations of developer A. W. Ross along [[Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California|Wilshire Boulevard]] in Los Angeles in 1920.