Half Inch Trim's Hierarchy Of Scale

Simply having beautiful objects in a room will not make it be a beautiful room. It is the multiple levels of architectural detail captured in one space that makes such rooms remarkable. There should be something interesting to look at everywhere we gaze, from big to small and everywhere in between.

Hierarchy of Scale is the idea that each space , whether it is a building or a room or a doorway, is made of an assemblage of smaller things. Each of those smaller things, when viewed closely, is comprised of yet smaller things. Like fractals, details within details. They form a natural hierarchy.

You cannot directly see hierarchies, you can only see the objects that make them up. But the hierarchies are there and they are very important. From “Half Inch Trim” (240) we know that the smallest scale we need be concerned with is about a half-inch, which is also about the same scale as decorative trim and handmade details.

Sometimes the jump in scale is small, like 1:3. This means that the space is divided into 3 subspaces or it is comprised of roughly 3 subobjects. Other times we make larger jumps, like 1:5 or 1:7. If the jump in scale is too large, over 1:10, then we no longer perceive it as a natural hierarchy.

When architectural details are members of natural hierarchies, then everything appears to be in its place and right where it belongs. When they are not part of a hierarchy, the features are likely to look unconnected, like they were simply added-on. Hierarchies are all about how things relate to each other and not about the things themselves. Below are three examples to better illustrate Hierarchy of Scale.

First example: Go back and look at the photo at the beginning of this page. (exterior corner of house, with a window, small trees in foreground) Can you see any