The Globe and Mail

When architects speak of "scale," they usually aren't referring to a three-sided ruler pulled out to check the size of windows on a floor plan. Scale, in architectural parlance, means the size and relative proportion of design details appropriate to a building's site and purpose. A house can be monumental in scale, but relatively small in size. I carry proof of this with me - bumps on my forehead acquired when I toured the 1904 Robie House in Chicago. Frank Lloyd Wright's design had put me in awe ever since I first saw pictures of it in architecture school, but the 6'2" of me kept colliding with doorframes concocted by the 5'6" architect. The house was even better than in my history prof's slides, but my initial shock was that its size seemed like some theme park, walk-in model of the Robie House, rather than the real thing. This sense of surprise (and the even more surprising bumps on the head) was an object lesson in how Wright's mastery of scale could inject power and presence into even a modest residence.