Another hurdle is to make better scale figures.

We saw some very creative figures and some toy figures – some of these might be improved. They do not show the right human proportions and tend to distract or misguide you when you are busy finding the right scale and size of your design.

• Step 1: When you google ‘scale figures’ you will find many examples that you might be able to use. Check them out.
• Step 2: Choose some simple and not too distracting figures.
• Step 3: Print them at an appropriate size.
• Step 4: Use them in your scale models and improve your design where you see that it is out of scale (too high, too narrow, etc.).

We found a very interesting blog by Noor Makkiya, in which she shows a collection of human figures from architects’ drawings. This shows some of the large amount of styles that are possible to use in a picture.*

She writes:
“Human figures are typically used in an architecture rendering to provide a clear scale for the common eye. Thanks to new technologies like Photoshop we have lost our “ontological dimension”, and the copy paste method we use makes it easier for us to fill architecture renderings with a desultory crowd of figures.

True architects since the early centuries used human figures not only to describe the quantity and the quality of the environment but also for deeper purposes of study and expression. Some used it as means of architecture inspiration, demonstrating the divine power of the human order. Other architects use human figures to emphasize on the activity within the space, sometimes it is important to depict the spatial properties of a design. Architects project themselves into the human figure. So if we compare drawings from different architects, we frequently find differences in body shape and body activity, for practicing architects often represent their own ideologies as a reference for understanding the human physical condition.“