Babies as young as four months prefer visually interesting buildings

A 2025 study showed that babies as young as four months prefer buildings with visual complexity and ornamentation, rather than those with flat surfaces or simple, repetitive structures.

Experiments carried out by University of Sussex researchers used eye-tracking software to monitor what the youngsters were drawn to as they were shown images of different types of buildings.

As The Times reported:

“They focused for longer on images with greater visual complexity, particularly those with a variety of angles, curves and detail. The more elaborate a building, the more intrigued they appeared to be with it. A group of 29 adult participants also rated these buildings as more aesthetically pleasing.”

These findings support what we already know – that humans need a certain level of visual complexity around us. When it comes to the outsides of buildings, we’re drawn to interesting details and decorative features, and we’re turned off by blank walls and featureless expanses.

Those babies already know a thing or two.