Big and beautiful: attractiveness and health ratings of the female body by male "fat admirers"

This study examined the body weight and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) preferences of “fat admirers” (FAs), that is, individuals who are sexually attracted to heavier partners. Fifty-six heterosexual men involved in the FA community rated a series of line drawings that varied in three levels of body weight and six of WHR for physical attractiveness and health. The results showed significant main effects of body weight and WHR, as well as a significant body weight × WHR interaction for both health ratings. In general, there was a preference for heavyweight figures and high WHRs for ratings of attractiveness and normal-weight figures and mid-ranging WHRs for ratings of health. Limitations of the study and explanations for fat admiration are discussed.

The role of the lateral occipital cortex in aesthetic appreciation of representational and abstract paintings: a TMS study.

Neuroimaging studies of aesthetic appreciation have shown that activity in the lateral occipital area (LO)—a key node in the object recognition pathway—is modulated by the extent to which visual artworks are liked or found beautiful. However, the available evidence is only correlational. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate the putative causal role of LO in the aesthetic appreciation of paintings. In our first experiment, we found that interfering with LO activity during aesthetic appreciation selectively reduced evaluation of representational paintings, leaving appreciation of abstract paintings unaffected. A second experiment demonstrated that, although the perceived clearness of the images overall positively correlated with liking, the detrimental effect of LO TMS on aesthetic appreciation does not owe to TMS reducing perceived clearness. Taken together, our findings suggest that object-recognition mechanisms mediated by LO play a causal role in aesthetic appreciation of representational art.

Clichy-Batignolles, Paris: a case of successful inner-city regeneration

The third issue of the column deals with the regeneration of inner-city rail station areas. The successful case of Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris is analyzed by Giulio Verdini, an architect and urban planner based in China and Paris. The quality of this recent project is evident at different levels: as an innovative experiment of planning with public consultation, as a new mixed-used neighbourhood organized around a beautiful park, as a collection of interesting contemporary buildings promoted through open architecture competitions. The memory of the old rails has been interpreted as an occasion for creating significant urban connections, and the city of Paris demonstrated again and again its rare capacity to regenerate itself. 内城火车站区域的更新历来不是件轻松的工作,这在1990年代以来诸多的欧洲城市中都已经得到印证.伦敦的国王十字车站和柏林的中央火车站区域都是著名的更新案例,此外还有鹿特丹和斯图加特中央火车站这些争议性的案例,它们都表明了这个更新过程有多么复杂而难料.其原因包括众多相互角力的私人及公众影响、改造带来的未知花费及收益,以及市民群体在其中扮演的越来越重要的角色.这个位于巴黎17区的克里希·巴蒂涅奥勒开发区更新项目同样如此.不过,随着项目的建造渐入佳境,我们愈发可以看出,它很可能会成为欧洲内城最成功的更新案例之一.这篇简要介绍的目的就是勾勒出这一成功案例背后的构思和动机,以展现这个理应矛盾重重而得到未充分利用的地段如何成为让巴黎西北区改头换面的良机.