Controlling the Environment

Control Theory

As a designer, one of my main focuses when designing a space, besides fulfilling my design philosophy, is to satisfy my client. I give my client what he/she/they want while also keeping in mind the limited control I have over the environment of the space; I can go above and beyond a client's expectations when creating a space, but the consumer and/or client still need to know they have control over the space, whether it be physically or mentally.

Behavioral Control

Source

The consumer of any space I design can still physically change the environmental event. For example, for the past week and a half, I have seen people on all my social media platforms urging other people to take action to change the natural environment, or the world would be completely brown by 2030. Therefore, organizations have gone out and started picking up human debris and are trying harder to find alternatives for the items we use every day, like plastic. People are taking initiative to physically control the natural environment. As a designer, I strive to make it easy for people to control the environment of a space, whether it be changing the lighting, hiding or displaying the television, or putting all the furniture on wheels to increase mobility.

Cognitive Control

A quick hand sketch by me

A  girl doesn't like heat, and after
slightly complaining about it,
she changes her perception.

There are often times consumers cannot control the physical environment but can control how they mentally grasp the environment. For example, a consumer cannot go into a doctor's office and move around the seats because one does not like how they are placed. In situations like this, someone can choose to either see the cup half-full or half-empty. Someone who is unhappy with his/her environment can find the good in the bad and vice versa; it is a matter of how someone conceives the environment. In today's society, people do not like to wait, and waiting often puts people in a bad mood, whether it is waiting in line at the bank or waiting for a significant other to finish getting ready; however, people have the mental ability to change the way they feel about a situation, It is important for designers to create spaces that strive to change people's conceptions when they are not in a great situation.

This photo was taken by me at Coney
Island in New York

Two men made the decision
to separate themselves when
it started getting crowded.

Decisional Control
This is the "Should I stay or should I go?" decision people make at least once in their life. Ultimately, consumers have control over how they respond to their environment or any situation. They can decide to stay in a space or leave immediately; they can decide to sit in a sociopetal area at the hospital and interact, or they can sit in a sociofugal area and not socialize at all. Every design show on HGTV has a big reveal, and though the designers create the space, they cannot control a client's reaction to what they created; some clients are overjoyed with brimming tears while others are silent and simply say "Thank you." Although my clients make their own decision about how they respond to any space I design, my goal is to elicit a happy, positive response.

Something I always keep in mind is to design to benefit the human condition, whether it is physically, mentally, socially, etc.; however, I also keep in mind that the consumers and/or clients want to have a sense of control over a space or environment. A client's feelings about a space stem from how much domination he/she/they have over any space and its environment. My goal is to design incomparable interior spaces that evoke positive control over a space, whether it be behavioral, cognitive, or decisional.

References:
The relationship of urban design to human health and condition
4 ways humans harm the environment