One of the most difficult practical lessons to teach in an architectural studio is the lesson regarding scale. Scale is relative. It is defined by the relation of one thing to another, such as the height of a stair riser to the height of a door. The scaled measurements of drawings and models relate to the actual measurements of the finished project - these measurements describe the building. Understanding scale is essential in the profession of architecture. Various scales are used in construction documents to ensure the buildings are built according to the drawings. Plans, sections, elevations, and details are drawn at different scales to reveal particular and vital information. The shift in architectural education from analog to fully digital methods has resulted in the loss of the students understanding architectural scale.

The analog methods of creating drawings relied on tools such as an architectural scale that has increments of 1/32”, 1/16”, 1/8”, 1/4”, 1/2”, and 1”, which double in size. It is easy to understand that 1/16” is fifty percent less in all directions when one is drawing by hand. This proportional system of measurements serves as a connection between the enlargement and reduction of various aspects of a drawing. A large drawing scale such as 1 ½” =1’-0” focuses on the detail, meaning the assembly of materials can be conveyed to the contractor. A smaller scale, such as 1/8” = 1’- 0”, allows for a larger area, such as a floor plan, to be shown. The floor plan and sections are then marked to indicate where to find the large-scale details. Learning how to read construction drawings is a skill that the students must learn, as it is not intuitive.

Digital drawing tools for architectural design, particularly the three-dimensional (3D) drawing programs, have changed the understanding of scale. While not by intention but rather by the necessity of the digital world of zeros and ones, an architectural project is drawn at full scale. However, it is interpreted as having no scale. The computer screen does not have a reference in the 3D programs as it does, for example, in Word, where a ruler appears at the top of the layout (“paper”) and on the left side. Furthermore, students often print the drawings for quick study, but printers do not have a scale. To have scale, the drawings must be plotted and have a scale assigned to them; however, if a student does not understand scale, they do not know when reviewing the plotted drawing if it is at the correct scale.

The “The Relative Size of Volumes” is a model-building exercise designed to mitigate this issue. The students can physically evaluate the relative sizes by building models by working with an ideation model at no scale and the programmed spaces described in the project brief with volume (double height) at two scales. The comparison between these three models will hopefully teach the student to understand and work with different scales.

Keywords: Scale, measurement, drawings, architecture, communication.