ABSTRACT
In nature, and the world of architecture and design, bilateral symmetry occurs with regularity. Across civilizations, the bilaterally symmetric plan and facade is often used to evoke power and convey worldly as well as spiritual might. Bilateral symmetry not only influences the way we walk or how we see, but also appears to deeply connect to our emotions, and inform what we like and find attractive in people and other animate and inanimate things in the world. Recent psychology studies, for instance, have explored whether adding symmetrical patterns to faces and craft objects enhances their appeal. Bilateral symmetric objects are found in diverse, far-flung regions, ranging from the Navajo in the American West, to the Aonikenk, tribes of Patagonia, South America, to the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. Psychologists studying symmetry perception have found that people process vertical bilateral symmetry, in objects more quickly than other forms of repetition or symmetry.
