1st Edition

Architect's Guide to Feng Shui

By Cate Bramble Copyright 2003
    216 Pages
    by Routledge

    216 Pages
    by Routledge

    Cate Bramble has devoted her career to highlighting the differences between 'feng shui-lite' as a fashionable pursuit in contrast to the original intentions of the Chinese masters. Here she presents the authentic principles in a technical, no-nonsense pocket book specifically for architects.

    As clients become more demanding and the competition for projects heats up, the architect is well advised to have many strings to their bow. This practical guide includes line illustrations that present the principles of feng shui, the Chinese art or practice in which a structure or site is chosen or configured so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it, and their application in architecture through planning principles, services, building elements and materials, in an accessible, easy reference format. The feng shui-savvy architect can also benefit from feng shui's ability to match structures and land, and the peculiar capacity of authentic feng shui to forecast development-related concerns including cost overruns, quality issues - even worker injuries and trade disputes!

    The author explains feng shui from archaeological sources and evidence of practice in the east, contrasting it with what passes for feng shui in the west. She analyses the practice in terms of such concepts as western systems theory, viewshed, space syntax and the 'pattern landscape' theory of urban planning. For the first time, the Sustainable implications of feng shui design are explained with reference to the latest developments in behavioural and cognitve sciences, evolutionary biology and other western viewpoints.

    Introduction: Global perspective: Macrocosm to Microcosm; A short history of spiritual building practices and the valuation across cultures of earth and habitation; Behavioral, archeological and other data corroborating basic feng shui principles. Chapter One: Expert rules: Yin Yang Theory; Wuxing (Five Element Theory); Time and Space; Uses and limitations. Chapter Two: Protoscientific and pseudoscientific conventions (a willing suspension of disbelief?); Drawing conventions (forget about the Greeks for a minute); Numerical conventions (Luoshu and valuations); Astronomical issues; Space weather, geomagnetism and feng shui. Chapter Three: Calculating your own or working with a practitioner; Pros and cons. Chapter Four: Planning; Form and Shape Theory. Chapter Five: Environmental assessment; Existing structures; Bare land; Topography, natural features; Native plants and animals; Restoring habitat; Sustainability and green issues; Using environment to correct problems in existing buildings. Chapter Six: Human factors; Suitability for purpose; The innate human need for particular environments and views; Viewshed, human nature and feng shui. Chapter Seven: Crime and its relation to the environment. Chapter Eight: Structures. Chapter Nine: An overview of the theory of Time and Space; Construction cycles. Chapter Ten: Form and Shape Theory in Time and Space Theory; Optimum orientations per 20-year construction cycle; Problem orientations per 20-year construction cycle. Chapter Eleven; Services. Chapter Twelve: Overlooked and overblown issues of drainage, water supply and storage, ventilation, electrical supply and installation, lighting and sound. Chapter Twelve: Building Elements; Enhancing placement of stairs and gradients, fireplaces, doors, windows. Chapter Thirteen. Materials; Comments on various materials to correct problems with existing structures and avoid problems with others. Addresses. Website resources. Associations, institutes, etc. Index

    Biography

    Cate Bramble

    I began the book expecting some great things. Well, I was not disappointed. - Feng Shui Network

    ...(the author) has done her homework. With her vast knowledge Cate is able to cover a lot of ground. - Feng Shui Network

    This book has been incredibly well researched and offers a genuine attempt to chart all aspects of Feng Shui - Building Design