The Beauty Formula

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Vase with Flowers and Butterflies by Odilon Redon

We read an interesting article recently in The New York Times titled, “Why We Love Beautiful Things” in which the architect and author, Lance Hosey, writes about some of the latest research findings and his opinions on the subject.

The focus of his article is on all the effort and money that is being applied to attempt to quantify and systematize the sort of designs and images which appeal to most people. Studies have found that workers tend to be more productive when they can see the outdoors from their work spaces and that images of landscapes can help to speed patient recovery in hospitals. Hosey writes that findings also show that the visual patterns of fractals in nature at a particular mathematical density can reduce test subjects’ stress levels by as much as 60 percent, simply by being in view. The research is fascinating and seems to show our deeply rooted and strong need for nature. Is beauty archetyp…