Film: Powers of Ten by Charles Eames & Ray Eames 1977

Technique: A series where there are jumps in scale

An understanding of the relative size of the world around us is an important skill as Demetrios states "to not understand scale in this day and age, is actually a form of illiteracy" (2014, 1:06). However, scale is often an overlooked aspect of measurement as most people are only familiar with scales ranging from 10^-2m (1cm) to 10^3m (1km). The technique, a series where there are jumps in scale, allows us to better visualise the relative size of the city and the world around us by showing how familiar objects compare in size and height, and the effects of exponential growth.

Similar to how knowing the world map allows you to picture new information you hear about new places, "having a sense of scale gives you tools for a new kind of understanding" (Demetrios, 2014, 1:57). This understanding may enable us to gain a greater knowledge of events and processes that happen every day. for example: the Sun (10^12m) sends ultraviolet radiation (10^-7m) to Earth (10^7m) which then burns people's skin (10^0m) and thus causes sunburn (Chein & Jacobe, 2019). Additionally, scale allows you to gain an insight into other professions, for example: chemists work with molecules at 10^-8m and urban planners work with measurements at 10^3m.

Therefore, a series where there are jumps in scale teaches us about the relative size of the city and the world around us. This ultimately enables us to better understand the scale of various events and processes which occur daily, as well as the effects of adding another zero to the end of a number.

Chien, A., & Jacobe, H. (2019, June). Sunburn & Your Skin. The Skin Cancer Foundation. https://www.skincancer.org/risk-factors/sunburn/#:~:text=Sunburn%20is%20an%20inflammatory%20reaction,your%20unprotected%20sun%2Dexposed%20skin.

Demetrios, E. (Director). (2014). A Few Tools For Teaching Scale. [Film]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3GCFhVV3xA

Eames, C., & Eames, R. (1977). Powers of Ten. [Film]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Gpm1Q0abk

Saroglou, S., Meir, I., Theodosiou, T. & Givoni, B. (2017). Towards energy efficient skyscrapers. Energy and Buildings. 14(9), 437-449. 10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.05.057.

Tissot, B. (n.d.). Enigmatic [Song]. Bensound.