ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a few reflections on the choice theory and how it transforms the perception of architecture. Choice architecture has two parts: a new application of rational and irrational choice theory and a new way of seeing meaning. The choice theory part is the nuts and bolts mechanism the framework offers. The meaning part shows how this mechanism fits into architectural experience by identifying meaning with the choice structure the agent faces afresh with every architectural encounter—the choice problem. When preferences are rational, they can be replaced by equivalent utility numbers, and when they are not, choice problems directly involve the numerical values of relative gains and losses—the counterparts of utilities in prospect theory. Choice architecture renders hard-to-see minute effects visible and shows that they add up through repetition and variation. The former choice-theoretic use of the term refers to positive and negative effects on the agent of a choice, its benefits and costs.
