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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1974

  • Work on this object began.

2014

2024

  • You found it!

Template, Humanscale 1a: Body Measurements Selector

This is a Template. It was written by Henry Dreyfuss Associates and graphic design by Valerie Pettis.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Ellen Lupton as part of Beautiful Users.

It is dated 1974. Its medium is offset lithograph on plastic with rotary wheels.

Niels Diffrient worked for Henry Dreyfuss Associates from 1955 through 1980. He coauthored Humanscale, a series of tools that coordinate a user’s height with dimensions such as shoulder width, head width, and thigh length. The wall graphic represents human bodies in the 50th percentile of standing height; numbers on the diagrams indicate dimensions for both lower and upper percentiles in a range encompassing 95% of American females.

It is credited Courtesy of anonymous lender.

  • Controller Of The Universe
  • found tools and wire.
  • Collection of Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman, New York, Courtesy of the FLAG Art....
  • 25.2012.1
  • Woman Swimmer Plate
  • enameled, gilt and glazed porcelain.
  • The Henry and Ludmilla Shapiro Collection; Partial gift and partial purchase....
  • 1989-41-30

Our curators have highlighted 3 objects that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 21.6 x 27.9 cm (8 1/2 in. x 11 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Beautiful Users.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/51689281/ |title=Template, Humanscale 1a: Body Measurements Selector |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>