Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder? Results From a Survey on Architectural Beauty

What is beauty? How do you know if something is beautiful? These have occupied the attention of philosophers, artists, and architects for ages. My research seeks to answer at least one question on this difficult topic: When it comes to architecture, is beauty in the eye of the beholder or is it something measurable? Building on findings from neuroscience and neuroasthetics, this project will present findings of an informal public survey. The survey asks participants to identify what buildings they find beautiful. The survey results will be analyzed to identify whether there are any underlying themes tying varying standards of beauty together. The aim of the research is to discover whether there is an instinct perceptual understanding within the human mind that begins to define beauty in architecture.