"The function of the sweet is to set the aesthetic stage for that particular event, " said New Jersey-based Marybeth Welch, who has been making wagashi by hand for more than 20 years and is one of few expert practitioners of that labor-intensive art in the States.

WSJ: The Sweet Way of Wagashi

Having established modern architecture as the reality of contemporary life, he also reduced it to a set of rigid aesthetic rules stripped of its revolutionary social and technological meaning.

WSJ: Philip Johnson: Short of Attention Span, Long on Aesthetics

Semahs can be described as a set of mystical and aesthetic body movements in rhythmic harmony.

UNESCO: Intangible Cultural Heritage

Inspired by a Glasgow tearoom designed by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Elizabeth Ruby set out to capture his spare organic aesthetic at The Tea Room in Savannah, Georgia.

CNN: Five great American tearooms