Ornamental Motifs Shape Aesthetic Pleasure and Conservation Intentions

A study of 80 participants found that the cultural identity and visual form of ornamental motifs can influence aesthetic pleasure, conservation intention, and the way people look at architectural heritage. The experiment examined two motif categories—the native Chinese dragon and the imported lion—presented in two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms.

Researchers used a 2 × 2 experimental design to separate the effects of motif category and visual form. Each condition was assessed with eye-tracking measures and questionnaire responses, providing both behavioral indicators of visual attention and participants’ evaluations of the ornaments. The four outcome variables were aesthetic pleasure, conservation intention, fixation time, and time to first fixation.

Both iconographic category and visual form produced significant main effects across the outcome variables. In other words, the motifs differed in how they were viewed and judged, and the two-dimensional and three-dimensional presentations were not equivalent. The study also identified significant interactions for conservation intention and time to first fixation, showing that the effect of one experimental factor depended partly on the level of the other.

The findings indicate that ornamental details in architectural heritage are not merely decorative. Their cultural associations and presentation format may contribute to viewers’ emotional responses and willingness to support conservation. However, the study involved 80 participants and tested specific motif categories in controlled visual conditions, so the results should not by themselves be generalized to all architectural heritage, all cultural settings, or real-world conservation decisions. The authors presented the work as a step toward understanding how iconographic meaning and visual form jointly shape attention, aesthetic evaluation, and conservation intention.

Subject of Research: Experimental study of how ornamental motif category and visual form influence heritage aesthetics, attention, and conservation intention.

Article Title: Ornamental motifs and visual concerns: Exploring aesthetic pleasure and conservation intention in architectural heritage renovation

Article References: Zhang, H., Mustafa, M., Cao, Z., Mao, Y., Hemida, K. H. A., & Song, X. (2026). Ornamental motifs and visual concerns: Exploring aesthetic pleasure and conservation intention in architectural heritage renovation. PLOS One, 21(10), e0359522. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359522

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0359522

Keywords: architectural heritage, ornamental motifs, aesthetic pleasure, conservation intention, eye tracking, visual attention, Chinese dragon, lion ornament, visual perception, Ornamental, motifs, visual