The Balance Problem Set

Problem 1 Tutorial: Urban Scale

Question: Of the three architectural images below which is the best example of urban scale?

Notre Dame Cathedral,
Paris, France
(1163-1250)

Piazza di San Marco,
Venice, Italy
(830-1640)

Rose window, Notre Dame Cathedral,
Paris, France
(1163-1250)

Tutorial:

Scale

Scale is how we perceive the size relationship of one thing to another. Typically, we use ourselves, that is our bodies, as the measure in determining whether something else is "large" or "small".

Urban Scale

The largest architectural scale is that of the city. Called the urban scale, it encompasses buildings, streets, bridges, plazas, parks, monuments, etc. At the urban scale we see buildings in relationship to one another, as solids in relationship to open spaces and as a much larger structure in relationship to ourselves. Much of our suburban development uses the urban scale elements, but the formal arrangements are quite different.

New York City, NY

Florence, Italy

Problem 1 | Answer | Problem 2

Aesthetics | Balance Problems | vocabulary | The Architecture Project

The Architecture Project
University of Arizona
Tuesday, September 2, 1997
lapointe@u.arizona.edu