Problem Statement: The rapid intensification of urbanization and the progressive detachment of human life from natural processes have eroded the depth of aesthetic experience and weakened the intertwined relationship between beauty, meaning, and liveability in contemporary built environments. Conventional aesthetic theories—rooted either in subjective judgment or in strictly formalist interpretations—are largely inadequate for explaining this multi-layered nexus. This conceptual limitation underscores the necessity of re-examining the philosophical, perceptual, and biological underpinnings of aesthetic experience.
Research Objective: This study aims to trace and clarify the conceptual evolution of bio-aesthetics and to articulate a theoretical framework that elucidates the perceptual, cognitive, social, and biological mechanisms underpinning aesthetic experience within the triadic relationship of human beings, nature, and meaning. On this basis, the research seeks to formulate a comprehensive model for improving environmental quality.
Research Method: This study adopts conceptual analysis and theoretical inference as its core methodological strategy. The corpus comprises classical and contemporary scholarship in the philosophy of aesthetics, evolutionary biology, neuroaesthetics, environmental psychology, and architectural/urban design theory. The analytical process involved comparing and synthesizing key theoretical perspectives—from biophilia and biomimicry to ecological aesthetics and nature-based design—with the aim of distilling a coherent explanatory framework for environmental aesthetic experience.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that bio-aesthetics can be understood as a coherent theoretical system in which aesthetic experience arises from the concurrent interaction of perceptual, cognitive, social, and biological processes. The proposed framework operates across four interlinked analytical levels—biological–neural, functional–formal, value-oriented ecological, and perceptual–semantic—showing that environmental quality is shaped by the intrinsic interplay of mind, body, nature, and meaning. Within this perspective, beauty is reconceptualized as an expression of life, and nature as a primary carrier of meaning. In this sense, bio-aesthetic theory not only offers a comprehensive basis for improving the quality of residential and urban environments, but also provides a conceptual platform for advancing a new integrative paradigm in architecture and environmental design.