FENG SHUI FOR URBAN DESIGNERS

Tatjana Medvedev

Tatjana Medvedev

Dec 17, 2023 · 17 min read

Feng Shui or the wind-water principle originate fron China.

What is Feng Shui or the wind-water principle?

Knowledge of Feng Shui can help you skilfully determine positive principles in choosing or designing your surroundings to best influence your happiness, health, and prosperity.

The history of building great ancient cities was based on some preconceived wisdom of elders. Similar conclusions have been made from different sources depending on geographic location and local beliefs. In this case, I will describe Feng Shui principles or, as it is also described, ‘invisible biology’.

For lack of a better word, all ancient urbanists, or emperors’ grand designers, knew through spoken word, tradition, and common sense to apply similar principles nowadays ‘lost in translation’.

“Feng Shui is the art of placing dwellings most favourably and location to best serve the owners and users of the residence, family home, business building, public square, sacral buildings, so it is in harmony with nature and everything surrounding it—such a desired location for it needs to have a good potential. Further, on the micro-scale, we develop principles for arranging houses and different rooms throughout “1.

Energy or Ch’i travels through space, nature, and the house. Earth, on the other hand, has its energy grid or flow. Such energy that was in Feng Shui described in the spiritual sense has since been discovered and described by Earth’s magnetic field 2.

Now, we have described Earth Ch’i, sometimes called Host chi, because Earth receives Heaven Ch’i, whose light descends on Earth. Earth Ch’i is essential to Feng Shui since it affects our dwellings and us.

Ch’i, as we now know, tends to move through space and also to get stuck. The nature of healthy Ch’i is to meander. According to share trading charts, it follows the same healthy pattern, a trend of growth and fall in a meandering fashion.

If we are talking about nature and assume Ch’i is a fresh wind breeze going through the forest, over the hill, it travels across and collects particles of oxygenised fresh air and takes it down through the valley. Where there is a crevasse or a cave, it gets stuck and is not so fresh after a while. In the same way, manufactured structures propel or stop the passing of fresh Ch’i.

Poorly designed endless strait freeways create destructive Ch’i as it moves along strait lines and gathers speed, unlike life-affirming fresh breeze.

Inside large building hallways and long corridors, we are creating damaging Ch’i. All land development urban design activities can be created harmoniously with Feng Shui.

Summary of terms

There are five main Feng Shui considerations:   

  • Ch’i energy, alignment, the Earth’s magnetism, the eight compass directions, and the five elements, particularly water.
  • Ch’i energy is described by its state as sheng, sha, or ssu  Ch’i.
  • Geography and Feng Shui interact in the form of heaven, earth and water Ch’i.
  • Ch’i is as much a part of the physical universe as the spiritual universe.
  • Alignments direct the course of Ch’i flow. Forcing it to move in a straight line can change from sheng  Ch’i to sha Ch’i.

knifes edge

The term knifes edge describes land or a building being positioned so that the edge of a curved flyover is aimed like a knife edge at a home or office. In such a situation, it is better to be on the inside of such a curve rather than on the outside and along the knife edge.

Modern cities are full of straight lines, generating lots of sha Ch’i. These include repetitive roof alignments, particularly along the lines of suburban terrace houses. A row of powerline poles along the road is not much of a problem, but for the home at the end of such a row, sha Ch’i creates a negative influence.

A gently meandering river generates just the correct flow of Ch’i, and many thriving cities and towns have been built inside such curves. Meandering river banks are not the same; inner curve land is a prime prosperous location when the river almost hugs the land, and outer curve river banks are less prosperous.

Along the knife edge and having a bad influence is also considered incoming traffic towards the city centre along the long straight line, where outgoing traffic and prosperity of shops are a little bit better.

POISON ARROWS

Term poison arrows are the name given to long alignments, which enable Ch’i flow to speed up to a point where it impacts upon a person or building, like an arrow. They are also called ‘secret arrows’ because they cannot be seen. Secret arrows can be blocked off with walls, trees or river embankments.

For the improvement, Ch’i needs to accumulate to be beneficial. This is best achieved when there are suitably sheltered places for the Ch’i to gather.

An interesting parallel can be drawn from this principle to the heritage preservation process. Near the buildings with exceptional beauty presenting intricate facades and detailed features, buildings made out of glass with excellent reflection capacity are placed to reflect and multiply the preserved building’s beauty. Similarly, at the end of the poison arrow effect, a reflective façade can be positioned to return the arrow to where it comes from.

Spike shaped features

SPIKE SHAPED FEATURES

Spike-shaped features can create vertical poison arrows. Church spires were a favourite target for destruction in Catholic settlements in China in the 19th century because their aggressive points were supposed to be an insult to Heaven and bad Feng Shui for their long-suffering neighbours.

On the other hand, Orthodox churches have their strict building, canonicum5, where the central dome and side domes are as big as possible, round and sheltering, hugging and protecting all its patrons and therefore having good Ch’i.

On a smaller scale, today’s satellite dishes are very feng shui, unfriendly items to point toward your neighbours. Conversely, if a neighbour has done this to you, screen off the offending site. Alternatively, send the poison arrows back to where they come from with a reflective surface or a mirror.

‘Closer to home’ vertical poison arrow is a disproportionately large building, particularly one close enough to overpower your home or office. Here, the sheer size is the problem. A building that overwhelms your building also dominates your Feng Shui. This is particularly aggravated if a corner of the building points directly at your home. And it is disastrous if this corner points at your front door. The alignment or line of sight along a wall of such a building is even more damaging than being pointed at by a blunt corner.

“Where two walls meet at the corner, the Ch’i flow doubles and becomes turbulent. Concentrated Ch’i over-runs and continues rushing in the same direction. Any close building in line with this over-run will be affected”.

The access point of Ch’i needs to be specially protected. The front door is most vulnerable, representing the mouth through which Ch’i can enter the home or office. Back doors and windows are, to lesser effect, vulnerable to such poison arrows. Houses, offices and public buildings are also affected internally, which this review will not cover.

Internal room alignments and furniture placement assessment for happiness, health and prosperity have many aspects that require thorough Feng Shui calculations, including Pa kua eight triagrams, Lo shu map, compass and other parameters.

“Building biology geological effects

Stretched across the whole of the earth is the so-called ‘global net’ consisting of stationary waves thought to be induced by the sun. However, according to Hartmann, its regularity suggests earthly radiation that emanates from inside the earth and is affected by the crystalline structure in the earth’s crust, which orders it in such a network. The network is oriented magnetically, in strips of about 200mm width, from the magnetic north to south poles. In central Europe, these appear at a spacing of about 2.5m grid. The grid running east-west is about 2m.

Feng Shui in Modern Urban Planning

When it comes to urban designing, for those trying to achieve a higher state of mind and peace, Feng Shui might have a more significant influence than we can imagine. The popularity of Feng Shui is increasing worldwide. This traditional decorating method has become one of the favourite guidelines among interior design lovers.
However, to achieve the highest level of balance, Feng Shui enthusiasts are often restrained by inadequate urban planning.
With that in mind, here are some significant guides that will help urbanists, as well as architects and other experts in this field, to achieve the best Feng Shui results, including the most influential segment that further determines interior and exterior design – urban planning.

Symbolism in Feng Shui

Symbolism in Feng Shui

If we interpret traditional Feng Shui symbols into architectural elements, we can build modern houses, settlements, and even cities, following the principal aspects of this ancient art.

Each Feng Shui settlement should include the following elements:

  • Northern and Southern boundaries – in the north, the boundary should be a landform to shape Chi’s direction, while a hill represents the mountain in the south.
  •  “Three islands “- the balance between three objects, often described as the ideal living condition in modern urbanism, can be the balance between the three highest, central buildings.
  •  “Nodes “- In traditional Feng Shui, nodes can collect positive energy. In modern urbanism, nodes can be interpreted as plazas, amphitheatres, squares, intersections, and parks. For example, the central node stores Chi, and some nodes can represent the combination of “Heaven “and “Earth “. Another significant node is the promising site. The Wealth Trigram or Reputation, the Trigram of Eight Trigrams, should face the fortunate site.
  •  Axis of Chi’s delivery – following the site of the central node that stores Chi, modern Feng Shui settlements should contain the central axis of Chi’s delivery, often represented through the long, rectangular public green spaces or pathways.

The Grid

The grid. Suburban residential housing example in US or Australia.

Introduced by the antique Romans, the grid, formed from cardo and decumanum, appeared as a favourite urban pattern worldwide. However, this simple and pure way of planning was also very popular among ancient Japanese and East Chinese contractors.

As we previously found out, everything in Feng Shui makes sense, so the situation with the grid in urban design is the same. Anyway, the grid symbolizes celestial order on Earth, further simplifying the creation of a Feng-Shui-friendly environment.

The Front Door

Although the orthogonal grid simplifies the process of positioning the house, you should also consider where you’ll place some of the house’s main elements.

The front door in Feng Shui represents one of the most important architectural elements since it receives the main Feng Shui energy from the house.

Traditionally, the front door should be placed facing the south to provide a good flow of Qi through the house. Although the south-facing main entrance offers the best way of getting the essence of nature, the front door oriented towards the east will also serve as the portal of energy.

The Bottom Line

If you are interested in Feng Shui, you can find symbolism in your surroundings and achieve the needed balance. This ancient, traditional art of mind is involved in almost all stages of modern society around the globe. Consciously and sometimes unconsciously, urban planners, architects, and horticulturists include Feng Shui in our cities, settlements, and backyards.

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