| Planning
a new community? Wouldn't it be good to know how to orient the buildings to take
advantage of the landscape? A
growing number of planners and urban designers are finding feng shui (literally,
wind and water) a useful tool in figuring out how to create harmonious spaces.
For centuries, the Chinese have used this ancient practice to determine where
life-force energies are present in nature. Others
have used it to find the underlying patterns in land forms. (American planner
Christopher Alexander's pattern language owes much to feng shui.) Environmentalists
and green building advocates use its guidelines to create spaces that support
the earth and its inhabitants. While
typically referring to individual buildings, feng shui energies are universal
and thus may be applied at any scale, including a neighborhood or an entire town.
Well-conceived plans frequently result in neighborhoods that are, in fact, feng
shui compliant. Feng shui
is about balance, harmony, connectivity, and freedom from clutter-all principles
that relate directly to good planning. Planners encourage balance and harmony
in building height and mass, green space, and land use. Connectivity is desirable
in street networks, trails, and bike paths. Freedom from clutter is a planning
goal, applied to overhead wiring, utility equipment, refuse containers, and even
poorly designed and highly visible parking lots. Using
feng shui is a way to enhance current planning by studying the physical form of
the landscape and the built environment, and observing and managing the subtle
energies within the space. Attention to the life force, or ch'i, energy that animates
physical space is a way to ensure that the residents of the neighborhood will
thrive. An example might
be a retirement community. Knowing where the energies of health are located on
the site would allow the planner or developer to focus attention on a specific
spot. Knowing where the energies related to community are located could help to
ensure the assimilation of new residents. This
focus would likely be different in the plan for a subdivision filled with starter
homes. Here an emphasis on the energies of wealth and prosperity would be most
useful to the young families who are moving in. These
energies can be honored in different ways. They can be honored symbolically by
the use of water features (water in feng shui symbolizes financial prosperity).
Or they can be honored literally by the placement of a community center in the
spot where the energy of community is strongest. A playground might be sited where
the energy of creativity and children is active and strong. Generally,
feng shui techniques have more to do with intentional placement of structural
and landscape elements than they do with expense. That would make them suitable
for all kinds of developments, including the most affordable ones. Feng
shui has long been practiced by Asian planners and urban designers, and the power
of its concepts is beginning to be appreciated by professionals in the U.S. Using
its principles allows planners to create settlements with greater harmony, a stronger
sense of community, and a better quality of life. Kevin
Walters Walters wrote
about the impact of feng shui for his thesis in completion of a master's degree
in urban and regional planning at Virginia Commonwealth University.
| 