On the Visual Complexity of Built and Natural Landscapes

Bourchtein, Andrei; Bourchtein, Ludmila; Naoumova, Natalia

doi:10.1142/s0218348x1450008x

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Fractals are self-repetitive patterns across different spatial scales [38], and they are used as a quantitative measure of visual complexity (e.g. [39]). Nature images have greater amounts of fractals than urban images [40], and fractal properties have been found to be crucial visual drivers of positive response to nature [41], giving rise to the hypothesis that this particular image characteristic may be part of the basis for preference.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature benefits revisited: Differences in gait kinematics between nature and urban images disappear when image types are controlled for likeability

2021

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Exposure to urban environments requires more cognitive processing than exposure to nature; an effect that can even be measured analysing gait kinematics whilst people walk towards photographic images. Here, we investigated whether differences in cognitive load between nature and urban scenes are still present when scenes are matched for their liking scores. Participants were exposed to images of nature and urban scenes that had been matched a priori for their liking scores by an independent participant sample (n = 300). Participants (N = 44) were either asked to memorise each image during walking or to rate each image for its visual discomfort after each walk. Irrespective of experimental task, liking score but not environment type predicted gait velocity. Moreover, subjective visual discomfort was predictive of gait velocity. The positive impact of nature described in the literature thus might, at least in part, be due to people’s aesthetic preferences for nature images.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature benefits revisited: Differences in gait kinematics between nature and urban images disappear when image types are controlled for likeability

2021

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“…These new results did not convincingly support Bovill's concept of a local ecology being reflected in the surrounding architecture, as the gap in the fractal dimensions of the images analysed was too large to provide compelling evidence. The Amasya data were further tested by others in 2014 [33] and both studies concluded that Bovill's results were limited by the images chosen for analysis. In particular, the selection of images from the original work lacked a clear rationale and the type of logical guidelines for the selection of data required to make such a disparate comparison.…”

Section: Image Requirements For Compared Fractal Dimensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The comparative numerical analysis of nature and architecture: A new framework

Vaughan¹,

Ostwald²

2017

Int. J. DNE

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Maintaining or creating a visual relationship between the form of a building and its surrounding natural landscape is often cited as a crucial factor in producing designs that support psychological comfort or environmental sustainability. While multiple methods for the analysis of nature and architecture have developed over time, only a handful of past studies have ever attempted to quantitatively compare the geometric properties of nature to those of architecture. Fractal analysis provides one of the very few methods available to analyse and compare the geometry of diverse objects. The fractal dimension (D) of an object is a numerical value which reflects the volume and distribution of detail in an item. Of the many subjects analysed using this method, the forms of nature (such as coastlines, rivers and plant elements) have been successfully measured, as have built forms (such as houses, public buildings and cityscapes). However, despite the method's application to each subject area, few examples exist where fractal dimension data derived from nature are compared with equivalent architectural data. A primary reason cited for this situation is the disparity of methodological variables, in particular, representational approaches to the images used for comparison are presently disparate and uncategorised. This paper responds to the existing lack of a comparable basis by analysing and categorising methodological examples from applications of fractal analysis to both natural and architectural cases. Specifically, the type of image delineation and the level of information contained in it are compared and ranked. Through this process, the paper provides a critical overview of the past application of fractal analysis to images, and thereby provides a starting framework for how the built and natural environments might be rigorously compared in the future.

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On the Visual Complexity of Built and Natural Landscapes

Cited by 2 publications

References 27 publications

Nature benefits revisited: Differences in gait kinematics between nature and urban images disappear when image types are controlled for likeability

Nature benefits revisited: Differences in gait kinematics between nature and urban images disappear when image types are controlled for likeability

The comparative numerical analysis of nature and architecture: A new framework

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