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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS One

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

  • Han Zhang1
  • Muhizam Mustafa2
  • Zihao Cao3
  • Yongchun Mao4
  • Karima Hussein Abdulhaleem Hemida
  • Xiaomei Song
4 affiliations
  1. 1School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia
  2. 2School of Arts and Design, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, China
  3. 3School of Arts, Jeddah International College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  4. 4College of Art Design, Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, Yangzhou, China
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Abstract

In the ongoing efforts of architectural heritage renovation, ornamental motifs serve not only as aesthetic embellishments but also as carriers of cultural symbolism. However, how their visual perception influences public aesthetic judgments and conservation intentions remains underexplored. This study focuses on two types of culturally embedded motifs – the native Chinese dragon and the imported lion – and examines their impact under two visual forms (2D and 3D) within a 2 × 2 experimental framework. A combination of eye-tracking measures and questionnaire assessments was employed with a sample of 80 participants to investigate the effects of iconographic category and visual form on four dependent variables: aesthetic pleasure, conservation intention, fixation time, and time to first fixation. Results revealed significant main effects of both iconographic category and visual form across all outcome variables. Notably, significant interactions were found in conservation intention and time to first fixation. This study advances understanding of how iconographic meaning and visual form jointly shape visual attention, aesthetic evaluation, and conservation intention in architectural heritage contexts.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{zhang2026ornamental,
  title = {{Ornamental motifs and visual concerns: Exploring aesthetic pleasure and conservation intention in architectural heritage renovation}},
  author = {Han Zhang and Muhizam Mustafa and Zihao Cao and Yongchun Mao and Karima Hussein Abdulhaleem Hemida and Xiaomei Song},
  journal = {PLOS One},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0359522},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359522},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Ornamental motifs and visual concerns: Exploring aesthetic pleasure and conservation intention in architectural heritage renovation
AU  - Han Zhang
AU  - Muhizam Mustafa
AU  - Zihao Cao
AU  - Yongchun Mao
AU  - Karima Hussein Abdulhaleem Hemida
AU  - Xiaomei Song
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
JO  - PLOS One
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0359522
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359522
AB  - In the ongoing efforts of architectural heritage renovation, ornamental motifs serve not only as aesthetic embellishments but also as carriers of cultural symbolism. However, how their visual perception influences public aesthetic judgments and conservation intentions remains underexplored. This study focuses on two types of culturally embedded motifs – the native Chinese dragon and the imported lion – and examines their impact under two visual forms (2D and 3D) within a 2 × 2 experimental framework. A combination of eye-tracking measures and questionnaire assessments was employed with a sample of 80 participants to investigate the effects of iconographic category and visual form on four dependent variables: aesthetic pleasure, conservation intention, fixation time, and time to first fixation. Results revealed significant main effects of both iconographic category and visual form across all outcome variables. Notably, significant interactions were found in conservation intention and time to first fixation. This study advances understanding of how iconographic meaning and visual form jointly shape visual attention, aesthetic evaluation, and conservation intention in architectural heritage contexts.
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -