Analysis of the effect of gender on the aesthetic preferences of symmetry in the façade of contemporary Iranian architectural buildings

Aesthetic evaluation seems to be very difficult in the present time because of the various and sometimes contradictory definitions of aesthetics. However, the experimental aesthetics approach, which is based on the experience and perception of the audience, can be very useful and effective in evaluating visual qualities. The experimental aesthetics is based on the mindset and conception of the observer, therefore it attributes the perception of beauty to the individual's mind and related factors to them such as age and gender. According to the experimental aesthetics, approach gender is one of the most important factors that affect aesthetic preferences. Due to the importance and worthiness of symmetry in Iranian Islamic architecture, in this essay, we researched particularly this visual componeResearch Question: Current research examines the relationship between gender and symmetry as one of the important visual components. In this study, we want to answer this question: what is the effect of gender on the evaluation of the visual preferences of the symmetry component in the façade of contemporary Iranian architectural buildings.

The research hypothesis has been tested using a questionnaire. To compile a questionnaire, 5 random prototypes of contemporary Iranian architectural buildings were selected and 7 groups, each contained 4 images and were produced by changing and manipulating the original images. Due to the interdependence and interaction of symmetry and complexity on each other, the symmetrical and asymmetrical images of each were tested in two simple and complex modes. Participants in the test were asked to arrange 4 categories of images in terms of their beauty priority from top to bottom. These 4 categories of images were "symmetrical and simple", "symmetrical and complex", as well as "asymmetrical and simple" and "asymmetrical and complex”.

The results show that "symmetrical and complex" images are typically the highest priority for individuals, regardless of gender, with the highest level of order and complexity. Symmetrical images usually look more regular. But that doesn't always mean simplicity. Sometimes by repeating the patterns and putting them together we can get more complex and new patterns that are very amazing and beautiful. As we see in Iranian Islamic architecture, this technique has been used a lot. In compiling the research questionnaire, more complex images were produced using the vertical symmetry of the prototype. These images were more detailed, more diverse, and had more fractures. The images created from the manipulation of the prototype, while having the desired complexity, were also regular. Therefore, according to Eisenhower's formula, it was predicted that visual preferences would be the highest priority.We must emphasize that this result cannot be generalized to the architectural group. Architects are more interested in the complexity and complex images compared to the other groups, and they have rated the "complex and asymmetrical" images as more beautiful ones. Although there is no difference between men and women in the choice of images, among the group of the architecture students but in the non-architectural groups (mathematics and liberal arts) Men compared to women have given higher scores to symmetrical images and symmetry is a very influential component in evaluating men's aesthetics preferences. But in women's visual preferences, complexity has played a more prominent role and women tend to choose more complex images.