Control Theory

Being in control is important to humans, some more than others. Control gives us a sense of safety and sometimes comfort. But are we always in control? No not really, many of the times it is just the sense of being able to move something or have something that we want and how we want, but the reason is, it has just been design that way. Every piece of furniture has its limits to the way they can be placed and any sign is up just to point you to a certain direction. The only control that we have is the choice of whether we follow that sign or not, and how we place the furniture in the space. This is Control Theory. It is composed by three different types; Behavioral, Cognitive and, Decisional.

Behavioral Control

    Behavioral control is the physical control that we have on people. How we want them to act in the space and what we want them to do. It is crazy to think that anything around you can be designed to make you do or go somewhere without you thinking about it. Side walks are a good example of this. Sidewalks are there to keep you on a path and you just follow it. Side walks are just slabs of concrete on the ground but everyone walks on them, even if its closer to not walk on it and go through the grass. That is an example of control theory no one really thinks about it. By putting certain things in certain places you can make people go or interact with something in a specific way.

Sketch of side walk by, yours truly.

Cognitive Control

    The ability to change the way you perceive a space. By having certain things stand out in a space anyones perspective will change. For example if you are standing in an empty room your perspective of the room will be different than if the room has an abstract piece of art in the center. Then the room will seem like it has a purpose, because the attention now is on the art piece. The job of a designer is to be able to know what the best way it would be to make a space be conceived a certain way. But this also works outside of a space and in the decision we as humans make to make the best out our situations. It is like if you are planing to go out and watch a soccer game and before you get there its starts raining. You realize that there is an umbrella in the back of your car and you decide to stay because you have an umbrella and can still watch the game. In this situation you have used your cognitive control to change your perspective on the situation.

6 or 9

Decisional Control

The power we have to choose how the environment will affect us. when people can't move things or change their perspective on the situation they have the choice on what to do such as if the person is uncomfortable in the situation they have the choice to either leave or stay.  What you do on the first day of class when you walk in, you choose the seat that makes you feel comfortable. For some people sitting in the front makes them feel good for other people sitting in the back makes them feel good. That choice you make to sit in the back is decisional control, it is you choosing how the environment in the classroom will affect you.

Sitting in the Front

In design; behavioral, cognitive and decisional control are incorporated and taken into consideration. Because according to the space that is being designed as designers, they have to make a space feel and look appropriate for how it is going to be used and by who it will be used by. No one wants a space to be confusing. So putting these three theories together can give you best outcomes of how the space will work and how things can be designed to make the users feel and act in the environment.

Ervin, N E, and L T Pierangeli. “The Concept of Decisional Control: Building the Base for Evidence-Based Nursing Practice.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17040552.

Orom, Heather et al. “What Is a "Good" Treatment Decision? Decisional Control, Knowledge, Treatment Decision Making, and Quality of Life in Men with Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer” Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making vol. 36,6 (2016): 714-25.

Design Philosophy

My name is Keren and I am a current Interior Architecture Student. Growing up I have always been interested in art and design it was the only thing i seemed to be good at besides playing soccer, by the age of 9 I decided that I wanted to be an Architect, the design of buildings and spaces had always intrigued me. How can one space can make you feel a certain way? and why? these were questions I always asked myself.

Drawing by Me (2017)

In high school I took every art class offered, it was what i loved to do, it was my happy place. I started college with no idea what i wanted to do, looking for my purpose in life. After realizing that i did not want to go into the medical field but i wanted to help people in some kind of way, i found Interior Architecture and it intrigued me. why not give it a shot? Interior Architecture, the best of both worlds, learning how to draft out a building by hand, but also work with the design and visual aspect of an interior space. I have always liked to watch HGTV shows to see what I could learn about building and design in a home. Designing the interior of a building is important because it has to be useful and productive but it also has to be welcoming and comfortable to be in. It has to be appropriately designed for the users of the space.

My goal as a designer is to help my clients by making my designs of any space simple, productive, but also comfortable and representative of my clients tastes and needs and also make it useful to the all of the users as well. I want to create harmony and balance within a space but also make it environmentally friendly. Green design is something that i am very interested in and learning more about it. I am open to new ideas in design and architecture.

 @kparchitecturee