Taking Measure

There's an old maxim for anything you are creating, building or repairing: measure twice, cut once. That's because the cheapest thing to do is to stretch a tape repeatedly, as opposed to hacking a piece of wood, fabric or metal too short, and then throwing it out or patching the final result. That works fine for things in front of you, be it shelves or clothing or cabinets. But what if you are designing for things not in your immediate orbit, perhaps a new appliance or piece of furniture? Then you have to rely on the specifications of the manufacturer for the size. And if it's something non-standard like a person or animal?  Then it's a guess, relying on experience or anecdotal information. Or you can point your browser to Dimensions.com.

The baby of architect Bryan Maddock, the web site started as a passion project based on his needs. He was having a hard time sourcing measurements for a project, and wondered why, with all the information that is available online, there was no central repository of common objects and their dimensions. And so he started to compile one. In addition to measurements of length, width and depth, he included drawings of both 2D and 3D files in industry standard formats. He made it open to any and all, or as he put it, "architects, interior architects/designers, artists, graphic designers, illustrators, game designers, UX designers, and anyone generally curious about the world."

In the beginning Maddock did all the work himself. As a teacher at Arizona State University and proprietor of his own architectural studio called Fantastic Offense, he squeezed it in between classes and commissions. "When the database first started I brainstormed the top 300 or so pieces of dimensional information that are commonly needed by designers and architects. Once those were done it was clear that the endeavor was a Pandora's box of sorts." Since that beginning in 2019 it has grown to "around 7000 unique topics on the site with an equal amount pre-planned and being researched behind the curtain." To keep up with demand he has a growing team of researchers and designers, as well as financial support via advertising and subscriptions.

As the site has grown, it has added information to entries, making it more than a "just the facts, ma'am" spreadsheet. For loveseats, in addition to standard sizes, it notes that they were "not invented to seat couples or lovers together. Rather, the original intent was to give women more room to sit in their large and lavish dresses." For BBQ Grills, it includes notes on how you clean them. And the entry on Beer Pong has not only the official measurements (yes, there are official measurements) but also a description of the types of shots you can make.

As evidenced by that last mention, the site's subjects go well beyond what you might expect to find in what started out as an architectural reference. Building on Maddock's comment that "I'm a person who is genuinely interested in everything," he said that he wanted to keep the content as accessible and entertaining as possible. And so you can find measurements and drawings for dolphins and wire hangers, a 1976 Ford F-150 pickup and a badminton shuttlecock, an Apple Watch Series 1 and the actress Gal Gadot. Each entry has drawings from several angles, relevant dimensions (the IKEA Intressant Spice Mill has an overall height of 10.75"/27.3 cm and diameter of 2.75"/7 cm), and additional factual points of interest (Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has a tattoo of Earth on his left shoulder). 

I asked Maddock what was the most surprising thing he discovered as part of the project. "Everything is related. I entered the project with the mentality of an architect and visual thinker, but most of my day to day is building exhaustive spreadsheets of how to categorize and organize everything in the world." And as to his ultimate goal? While not aspiring to be Wikipedia, he says the site has evolved and will continue to do so as more users have gotten involved and offered input. Or as he put it, "If aliens were to come across Dimensions, I'd hope they'd also have fun trying to piece together and appreciate the diversity of things that exist/existed on this planet."

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Marc Wollin of Bedford likes things to make sense. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.