287on the other hand, freedom of movement is actually greater
(Arnheim 1977/2009).
Because the impression of architectural size cannot sim-
ply be equated with sheer dimensions, such effects are gen-
erated through special architectural measures, which are de-
signed to avoid falling into banal gigantism. Étienne-Louis
Boullée recommended making the parts of the building as
numerous as possible in order to generate sensations of im-
mensity. He counselled, for example, creating sensations of
limitlessness by using rows of columns, which continued in
all directions and extended so far that it became impossible
to count their elements, or extending avenues to such lengths
that their termini were no longer visible. The individual is
meant to be unsettled by effects of sublimity (> sublime) that
are generated by the size of that which has become incom-
mensurable. He enthused: ‘An image of grandeur pleases us in
every regard, then it is our nature to strive to elevate our sense
of life, to encompass the entire universe.’ (1987, 58)
Only in Modernism has expansive scale made possible by
technology become an everyday phenomenon, as seen in sky-
scrapers, airports, fairgrounds and railway stations. Accord-
ing to Rem Koolhaas, size has its own laws, which call into
question or even render obsolete earlier architectural criteria
such as the object’s composition, scale, proportion, detail, leg-
ibility and comprehensibility, along with the importance of
context: according to Koolhaas, size supports the principle
of heterogeneity and complex superimposition, and heightens
the autonomy of the individual parts. For him, however, this
by no means entails fragmentation. The pulling apart of core
and envelope is extended to the point at which a structure’s
interior is no longer legible from the outside. The requirement
of > readability and veracity is hence suspended. Interior and
exterior assume separate tasks: the object’s apparent stability
must be communicated towards the outside, while within, it
becomes necessary to master the instability of complex pro-
grammatic and design requirements. The large spatial object,