Reduction of Physiological Stress Using Fractal Art and Architecture

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 art and architecture as a novel approach to reducing stress is also discussed. AR TS C IE N C E: T H E ES S EN TI AL C O N N EC TI O N Fig. 1. A photograph of a forest (top); an artistic rendition of a landscape (middle); and painted lines (bottom). (© Richard Taylor) covery that this aesthetic quality might be accompanied by a positive response in the observer’s physiology lends considerable support to previous proposals for fractal art and fractal architecture [14–18]. I therefore consider the artistic and architectural challenges of incorporating fractal imagery into buildings to affect people’s perceptual and physiological responses.