Selected Bibliography Architecture - Form Space and Order | Page 309

PR O PO RTIO N & SCALE

This chapter discusses the interrelated issues of proportion and scale.
While scale alludes to the size of something compared to a reference standard
or to the size of something else, proportion refers to the proper or harmonious
relation of one part to another or to the whole. This relationship may not only
be one of magnitude, but also of quantity or degree. While the designer usually
has a range of choices when determining the proportions of things, some are
given to us by the nature of materials, by how building elements respond to
forces, and by how things are made.

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