Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study

Buildings are an integral part of our physical environment and have aesthetic significance with respect to the organizational integrity of architectural elements. While Gestalt principles are essential in design education, their relationship with architectural features remains understudied. The pre...

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Main Authors: Dilara Beder, Matthew Pelowski, Çağrı Imamoğlu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-08-01
Series:Journal of Eye Movement Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/11199
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author Dilara Beder
Matthew Pelowski
Çağrı Imamoğlu
author_facet Dilara Beder
Matthew Pelowski
Çağrı Imamoğlu
author_sort Dilara Beder
collection DOAJ
description Buildings are an integral part of our physical environment and have aesthetic significance with respect to the organizational integrity of architectural elements. While Gestalt principles are essential in design education, their relationship with architectural features remains understudied. The present study explored how Gestalt principles and complexity levels influence evaluations of building façades through the use of questionnaires and eye tracking. Twenty-four two-dimensional black and white façade drawings, manipulated using selected Gestalt principles (similarity and proximity) to achieve different levels of complexity (low, medium & high), were presented to 79 participants. The results suggested a negative linear relationship between aesthetic ratings and complexity levels across selected Gestalt principles. In addition, as expected, participants had the highest number of fixations, shortest fixation durations, and lowest aesthetic ratings for higher levels of complexity. Results involving Gestalt principles revealed that proximity-based designs received higher aesthetic ratings, demanded less time, elicited lower number of fixations, and resulted in shorter fixation durations. Conversely, similarity-based designs received lower aesthetic ratings, demanded more time, elicited higher number of fixations, and resulted in longer fixation durations. These findings offer insights into architectural aesthetic experiences and inform future research directions.
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spelling doaj-art-e5a16e5d094348a6905cf97e45e6c4f82025-08-20T02:04:02ZengMDPI AGJournal of Eye Movement Research1995-86922024-08-0117210.16910/jemr.17.2.4Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking studyDilara Beder0Matthew PelowskiÇağrı ImamoğluPhD Candidate Buildings are an integral part of our physical environment and have aesthetic significance with respect to the organizational integrity of architectural elements. While Gestalt principles are essential in design education, their relationship with architectural features remains understudied. The present study explored how Gestalt principles and complexity levels influence evaluations of building façades through the use of questionnaires and eye tracking. Twenty-four two-dimensional black and white façade drawings, manipulated using selected Gestalt principles (similarity and proximity) to achieve different levels of complexity (low, medium & high), were presented to 79 participants. The results suggested a negative linear relationship between aesthetic ratings and complexity levels across selected Gestalt principles. In addition, as expected, participants had the highest number of fixations, shortest fixation durations, and lowest aesthetic ratings for higher levels of complexity. Results involving Gestalt principles revealed that proximity-based designs received higher aesthetic ratings, demanded less time, elicited lower number of fixations, and resulted in shorter fixation durations. Conversely, similarity-based designs received lower aesthetic ratings, demanded more time, elicited higher number of fixations, and resulted in longer fixation durations. These findings offer insights into architectural aesthetic experiences and inform future research directions. https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/11199Eye trackingeye movementvisual perceptioncomplexityGestaltaesthetic preferences
spellingShingle Dilara Beder
Matthew Pelowski
Çağrı Imamoğlu
Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study
Journal of Eye Movement Research
Eye tracking
eye movement
visual perception
complexity
Gestalt
aesthetic preferences
title Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study
title_full Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study
title_fullStr Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study
title_full_unstemmed Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study
title_short Influence of complexity and Gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building façades: An eye tracking study
title_sort influence of complexity and gestalt principles on aesthetic preferences for building facades an eye tracking study
topic Eye tracking
eye movement
visual perception
complexity
Gestalt
aesthetic preferences
url https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/11199
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AT matthewpelowski influenceofcomplexityandgestaltprinciplesonaestheticpreferencesforbuildingfacadesaneyetrackingstudy
AT cagrıimamoglu influenceofcomplexityandgestaltprinciplesonaestheticpreferencesforbuildingfacadesaneyetrackingstudy