Image statistics substantiate Gaudí’s naturalistic design principles

Human observers perceive natural and man-made environments differently, a distinction measurable through image statistics. However, limited evidence exists on how architectural style influences these statistics and, consequently, visual perception. Understanding this relationship is essential, as architectural design shapes both our visual and psychological experiences of built environments. The amplitude spectrum slope quantifies sharpness and detail in an image, with values closer to 1 typically found in photographs of natural scenes. Image entropy, reflecting unpredictability, also plays a role in visual attention—images with higher entropy are more likely to capture interest. In this study, we analyzed photographs of buildings designed by Antoni Gaudí, renowned for his nature-inspired architecture. Our findings reveal that Gaudí’s buildings display an amplitude spectrum slope more similar to that of natural scenes than contemporary structures from the same area, alongside higher image entropy. Effect size measures indicated that the observed differences in slope constant and entropy between images of Gaudí buildings and contemporary buildings were medium and large in magnitude. The presence of trees in front of contemporary buildings shifts their image statistics toward naturalistic values. These results suggest that incorporating naturalistic design elements into architecture can alter image statistics, potentially influencing perception and aesthetic experience. In contemporary architecture, where minimalist and geometric styles are prevalent, these insights highlight the potential benefits of reintroducing complexity and naturalistic aesthetics to create more engaging and psychologically restorative built environments.