An approach to designing decentralized plantwide control system architectures is presented. The approach is based on splitting the optimal controller gain matrix that results from solving an output optimal control problem into feedback and feedforward parts. These two parts are then used to design and evaluate decentralized control systems. Results for the application of the methodology to a realistic, 4 by 4 reactor with recycle process are given. For this system, the optimal control based approach suggests feedback pairings that are significantly different than those suggested by the steady state RGA. The approach presented can give an indication if MPC is preferred over a decentralized approach to plantwide control. Comparison of the results produced by the best decentralized plantwide system and a model predictive control system are presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.