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Architecture vocabulary · Space, Form and Composition

Massing

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˈmæsɪŋ/nounCore term

In architecture, massing means: The overall three-dimensional shape and arrangement of a building's main volumes, without details such as windows or materials.

In Turkish: kütle, kütle kurgusu, kütle çalışması

How it is used

Discussed early in design and in planning negotiations. Architects test, study and refine the massing with quick models or 3D software; a massing study compares several options. Planners comment on the massing in relation to neighbouring buildings.

Example sentences

  1. We broke up the massing into three smaller blocks to match the scale of the street.

  2. Can you prepare a quick massing model for Friday's meeting?

Common collocations

  • massing study
  • massing model
  • break up the massing
  • test the massing
  • conceptThe central idea that guides a design and gives it a clear direction, such as a strong relationship with the landscape or a building organised around light.
  • modelA small three-dimensional version of a building or site, made of card, wood, foam or 3D-printed parts, used to study a design or to present it.
  • footprintThe area of ground that a building covers, measured by the outline of its outer walls at ground level.
  • human scaleThe 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.
  • 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.

More terms: Space, Form and Composition

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