Reduction of Physiological Stress Using Fractal Art and Architecture

@article{Taylor2006ReductionOP,
  title={Reduction of Physiological Stress Using Fractal Art and Architecture},
  author={Richard P. Taylor},
  journal={Leonardo},
  year={2006},
  volume={39},
  pages={245-251}
}
The author reviews visual perception studies showing that fractal patterns possess an aesthetic quality based on their visual complexity. Specifically, people display an aesthetic preference for patterns with mid-range fractal dimensions, irrespective of the method used to generate them. The author builds upon these studies by presenting preliminary research indicating that mid-range fractals also affect the observer's physiological condition. The potential for incorporating these fractals into… 
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128 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
16
Background Citations
67
Methods Citations
12
Results Citations
5

128 Citations

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This set of studies demonstrates that fractal preference is driven by a balance between increased arousal and decreased tension and can serve as a practical implementation of biophilic patterns in human-made environments to promote occupant wellbeing.
The Potential of Biophilic Fractal Designs to Promote Health and Performance: A Review of Experiments and Applications
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This work discusses fractal fluency and demonstrates how it enhances the observer’s visual capabilities by focusing on experiments that have important practical consequences for improving the built environment.
Fractal Art and Architecture Reduce Physiological Stress
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Human beings are apparently tuned to prefer an environment that has the self-similar properties of a fractal, which implies that particular fractal environments are healing, or at least buffer us from life’s stresses.
Predicting beauty: fractal dimension and visual complexity in art.
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The first study reported here examines the extent to which perceived visual complexity in art can be successfully predicted using automated measures of complexity and suggests that when colour is removed from an artistic image observers are unable to make meaningful judgments as to its beauty.
The Implications of Fractal Fluency for Biophilic Architecture
TLDR
It is described how people can navigate easily through environments featuring mid-range fractals, which can be exploited by incorporating these natural patterns into buildings, representing a highly practical example of biophilic design.
Fractals in architecture: The visual interest, preference, and mood response to projected fractal light patterns in interior spaces
Fractal design in streetscape: Rethinking the visual aesthetics of building elevation composition
Biophilic fractals and the visual journey of organic screen-savers.
TLDR
Fractal aesthetics and Draves's remarkable images are discussed and the opportunity for readers of this journal to have some visual fun is raised.
Fractal geometry for Landscape Architecture: Review of methodologies and interpretations
TLDR
A literature review of the methods and interpretations of fractal geometry currently used in landscape architecture found that several methodological hurdles, such as issues of signal transformation and segmentation, as well as the inev-itable questions surrounding theecological validity of landscape surrogates still stand in the way of making Fractal geometry a useful tool for landscape architects.
Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Jackson Pollock's Fractals
TLDR
A review of 10 years of scientific investigation of human response to fractals that examines the inter-relationship between the various results and discusses the artistic implications of the positive perceptual and physiological responses to fractal patterns.
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