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Architecture vocabulary · Space, Form and Composition

Human scale

Meaning in architecture, with examples

nounCommon term

In architecture, human scale means: The quality of buildings and spaces whose size and details relate comfortably to the human body, so that people feel at ease rather than small or lost.

In Turkish: insan ölçeği

How it is used

Used in critiques of large developments and in urban design. Architects try to keep or bring back human scale with smaller openings, setbacks, clear entrances and street furniture. Juries often say a street or square 'lacks human scale'.

Example sentences

  1. The tower meets the street with a two-storey base to keep a human scale.

  2. The new square lacks human scale; it's too big and has nowhere to sit.

Common collocations

  • keep a human scale
  • lack human scale
  • at a human scale
  • human-scale streets
  • scaleThe ratio between the size of a drawing or model and the real size of the building; at 1:100, one centimetre on paper equals one metre in reality.
  • proportionThe relationship in size between the parts of a building, and between each part and the whole, such as the height and width of a window or a room.
  • public spaceSpace that is open and accessible to everyone, such as streets, squares, parks, waterfronts and the public areas of civic buildings.
  • walkabilityHow easy, safe and pleasant it is to walk around an area, depending on things like pavement width, shade, crossings, street life and distance to daily needs.
  • massingThe overall three-dimensional shape and arrangement of a building's main volumes, without details such as windows or materials.

More terms: Space, Form and Composition

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