Human Scale

Human Scale is to designing and building functional, beautiful, and meaningful public spaces in historically disinvested neighborhoods across Chicago. As a result, these buildings seeks to improve mental and physical wellness, promote civic responsibility, highlight heritage and culture, and foster strong inter generational relationships within the community.

Human Scale is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2018 by a group of architecture students with the goal of using their skills to make a realistic impact in their communities. Their name originated out of their desire to involve community stakeholders in their design and build process to create meaningful and long lasting projects. They follow a three step process to design beautiful, efficient, and meaningful buildings. The first step is need, in which organizations and community members reaching out with a need or with a project proposal. The second step is design in which Human Scale works closely with community members and key project stakeholders to design a space that is site and people specific. The final step of their process is to build the space. The builders are often times made up of the Human Scale team and volunteers because Human Scale wants to incorporate as many community members as possible while still maintaining efficiency.