Pro-active Feng Shui – 3 Case Studies
For The London International Feng Shui Conference 21 – 23 May, 1999
Howard Choy, B Arch. Feng Shui Architects Pty. Ltd. Sydney, Australia

In our Sydney practice, we not only design and build buildings incorporating the Feng Shui principles; we also do Feng Shui consultations for individual clients and for other design professionals.

Our work varied from urban renewal projects to the design of company logos. The scope of our work encompasses both “re-active” and “pro-active” consultations.

We used the term “re-active” when we are asked to comment on buildings that already exist or have just been built. In these situations we feel we can only “react” or respond to what is in front of us.

When we are asked to participate in the design process as a Feng Shui Consultant, we feel we can play a more pro-active role. That is, we can assist in creating a new environment with Feng Shui principles, not merely as an adjunct afterwards. Hence the term “pro-active” Feng Shui.

Personally, I prefer “pro-active” Feng Shui, for the obvious reason that it is more satisfying to be a part of the creative process. In my experience, using Feng Shui analysis as a part of the design methodology can leads to more wholistic  solutions which are invariably more satisfying for both the design team and the client.

When we work as Feng Shui Consultants, we try not to interfere, or take over the work of the Designer or the Architect. We see ourselves as a support member of the team. Our role is to provide a Feng Shui brief and to ensure that the brief is carried out correctly.

We use the “Xing Shi” or ‘Form’ and “Li Qi” or “Compass” analysis in all our projects. With “Li Qi”, we favour the Bazhai and the San Yuan (Feixing) methods. I have chosen three case studies of differing type and complexity to talk about in this conference.

1) Urban Planning Project
Haymarket Precinct Design Project, Chinatown, Sydney
For: City of Sydney Council
Architects: Hassell Pty. Ltd. with Peter McGregor (Designs)

2) Commercial Project
New Studio Premise at the Rocks, Sydney
For: The Australian School of Colour and Design

3) Residential Project
Renovated Apartment at Double Bay, Sydney
For: Mr. Siimon Reynolds
Architects: Burley Katon Halliday

1.  HAYMARKET PRECINCT DESIGN PROJECT, CHINATOWN SYDNEY

The incorporation of Feng Shui into the project was to provide a multicultural input to the upgrade of Sydney’s Chinatown as part of the Olympic 2000 capital works. As far as I am aware, this was the first time that Feng Shui principles have been used in an Australian Urban Design context.

We were engaged as Feng Shui Consultants half way through the design process. Despite this late “beginning”, Feng Shui input was incorporated into the Architect’s solutions with only minor alterations from their initial proposal.

One of the ideas was to use the “Shui Kou” (the Water Mouth) analogy by comparing Sydney’s Chinatown to a Chinese village with a river running past it. If we charge and assemble the qi of the “river” with an” urban marker”, the adjusted Feng Shui can affect the future wealth and prosperity of the people living and working there. ”The Urban Marker” acts in the same manner as a Feng Shui Pagoda – to affect the qi of the surrounding landscape. (Fig. 1)

The movement of the cars in busy Sussex Street to the east of Chinatown flows one way from north to south. The flow of the traffic can be likened to a river. It continues onto Thomas Street but is bisected by Hay Street running east to west. At the point of intersection the Shui Kou is prominent and should be marked. This is a spot of Feng Shui importance. We felt that it was a good omen when we discovered that the Council had already decided to run a public-art competition to find the best sculpture available for the site. We negotiated and successfully managed to incorporate a Feng Shui brief into the competition conditions.

To signal where the “river” first enters the “village” (from the north) we suggested another urban marker be placed to the north to further stimulate the “water qi” around Chinatown.

To highlight the “flow” of the “river”, streetlights will be suspended above Sussex Street. As Sussex Street is one of the main thoroughfares into the area its importance should be recognised. Dixon Street Mall (which also runs north to south and has the same geodetic qi as Sussex Street) has the same lighting to reflect the energy of the land. Little Hay Street, running from east to west, has a different lighting. This lighting is attached to the sides of the buildings, to distinguish it from the suspended lights of Sussex and Dixon Street. (Fig. 2)

Apart from highlighting the land energy and assembling the wealth qi with the “Shui Kuo”, the core concept was to mark the Chinatown precinct as the symbolic centre of the universe for the Chinese community in Sydney with the “Wuxing” or the Five Elements.(Fig. 3)

This is realised through the various urban markers, based on the Five Elements being placed at their correlated locations within the Haymarket Precinct and the adjacent Entertainment Centre Precinct. Special treatment of the streets and lighting representing the Earth Element with Heaven above have identified the symbolic “heart” of Chinatown at the intersection of Dixon and Little Hay Street.

Some of the suggestions we gave to the Architects and the Council included the following:
- Intersection of Sussex and Hay Street; Incorporation of a “Shui Kou” urban marker.
- Intersection of Dixon and Little Hay Street; At the symbolic centre, a strong Earth Element of vibrant yellow colour is used instead of a design based on the Wood Element.
- Northern end of Dixon Street; Representation of the Water Element – a Steam Lantern is intended for the symbolism at this point.
- Junction of Ultimo and Thomas Street; Use representation of the Fire Element – instead of the Timber Lantern that was initially proposed.
- Hay Street to the East of George Street; Being the Wood sector, an Earth lantern (as initially proposed) is unsuitable as earth destroys wood.  Instead, representation of the Wood or the Water element would be preferable for balance.
- Entertainment Centre; The proposal for this area is a public sculpture with a strong Metal and Water presence, forming part of the Five Elements.
- Little Hay Street; Extension of new paving from Dixon Street to Little Hay Street, the intersection of the two streets will form a cross to mark the symbolic “centre” of Chinatown.

The intention is to encourage more street life to this area, or in Feng Shui terms, draw more qi from the surrounding area into Sussex and Dixon Street, then on to the Entertainment Centre and the Darling Harbour area. Making the qi connection and containing the qi in the right places is the art of Feng Shui.

2   NEW STUDIO PREMISE AT THE ROCKS  for THE AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL OF COLOUR & DESIGN

The Rocks area in Sydney is the equivalent of Edinburgh’s “Old Town”, with small busy streets, mostly cobbled. The area is reasonably quiet in terms of traffic. This was once the location of much of Sydney’s old shipping merchants. Today it is a well preserved tourist precinct of Old Sydney Town.

We assisted the owners in the interior planning their new school using the art of Feng Shui. They came to us with a sketch plan for “ comments” (Fig.4).  We studied the Principal’s Ming Gua and the employees’ positions within the school and their individual operations. We have positioned the staff strategically, in terms of logical work process and individual needs and wants.

Previously, the Principal looked across a metal deck roof to a distant glimpse of The Sydney Opera House. The Principal now has views over the old part of the city, including coffee shops and the weekend market. The roof view was unattractive at the best of times, but more importantly had “sha qi” from the glare.

The Manager has a new position amongst the Administration Staff for better communication and ease of working. One of our suggestions was to open a corner of the building to be used as a communal area. This previously had not occurred. From our point of view, a good working and living environment has to have a “heart” to gather the qi. The idea behind Feng Shui is to assemble the qi (ju qi) in order to assemble the affection (ju qing). When there is affection, wealth and prosperity will be assembled (ju fu). Having a heart in a building is recognised as an important requirement both in architectural planning and in the art of Feng Shui.

The storerooms are now placed in the internal windowless areas, which frees up windows for human use. The logic here is to match the inherent qi quality of a place with its functional requirement.

Natural ventilation is desirable in Sydney’s hot climate. To cut down on the need for air conditioning, we located the Common Room, the open plan office and the Meeting Room next to the existing large set of sliding doors to allow for cross ventilation. Recognising the environmental necessities in old buildings is part of Feng Shui analysis, as it will use the potential qi of the old to enhance and improve the new.

From an architectural point of view the space works more efficiently. A greater sense of belonging has been generated in the office environment.

Effort was given to making the school more communal and allowing the space outside the offices to become foyer galleries. This enlarged the public exhibition space, and drew the staff, the students and the visitors together for a greater interaction.(Fig. 5)

Our clients recently told us that their student enrolment had increased by 70% since the opening of the new school. It is good to know that our Feng Shui does works.

3  SIIMON REYNOLDS APARTMENT – DOUBLE BAY, SYDNEY

We were engaged as Feng Shui Consultants to the Architects for a project where the Client was very interested in using Feng Shui to enhance the environment.

The Client took time to find an ideal location with an extensive view of the water of Double Bay. The unit is located on the lower floor and as such it has the protection of the “Black Turtle” behind.

The initial design proposed by the Architects had a few Feng Shui problems, as can be seen in our sketch of analysis (Fig. 6a). The kitchen and the bathroom are located in the centre of the unit. This is considered to be inauspicious due to the bulk of the Water Element being in the centre which belongs to the Earth Element (Water destroys Earth). The Fire Element of the Kitchen in the centre also creates “Heart Fire” (Xinhuo). Heart Fire will lead to hidden anger and pent-up fury.

In addition, the constricted centre created a narrow entrance, further reducing the free qi flow to and around the unit. The beds in each of the two bedrooms needed to be moved from their locations under the windows. Sleeping with your head under the window is undesirable as a sense of insecurity results. Further, possible draughts may lead to ill health. The situation was resolved by moving the beds against a solid wall where there is a view to both the window and door.

The initial design had a column located near the centre of the dining table. The column connected to an exposed beam overhead and effectively cut the table in two. There was also an additional exposed beam perpendicular to the first, which was also to support the column. The “sha qi” of the exposed beams divided the living area into four segments, effectively cutting the heart of the home in four pieces. This was both bad planning and bad Feng Shui.

Initially, we had trouble convincing the Architects that their design had problems. However, we made progress when we explained to them that we are not attacking their design but simply looking at the situation from a different angle. When the Architects understood our concerns, they were able to come up with an alternative, which satisfied the needs of the client, the Architect’s sense of aesthetics and the Feng Shui requirements at the same time (Fig. 6b).

The final proposal created a much more comfortable feel in the apartment. The living space opened out towards the view of the water to the east, and there is a sense of movement between the space of inside and outside – from darkness to light.

The simple re-location of the amenity area to one side of the unit enabled the entrance to “open up”. Now one walks into a welcoming space where the Client greets his guests in a space where natural light filters through from the generous terrace connected to the living area.

The “Dirty Water” of the toilet and the bath no longer takes up the centre of the house. The heart of the house is now the dining area where the qi is assembled and affection is cultivated.

POSTSCRIPT

There are many ways to do Feng Shui consultations. What we do above may not be the traditional or the correct way to do things, although we tried to do the “classical” thing. They are our experience and our “xin de” – what the heart perceived.

When we work as Feng Shui Consultants, we wear a different hat than that of the Architect. We use a different paradigm to view the same situation – a paradigm that is based on Chinese qi energetics - balance and harmony of the yin and yang forces, (Fig. 7) instead of the problem solving approach - cause and effect, which we were taught at university. In Feng Shui, we have a different image of nature and architecture (refer to Dr. Yoon’s excellent article article), and it is due to this shift of the paradigm that we can help others to deepen their creative out put, without trivialising the art of Feng Shui. This synergy is what we consider to be the value of our service as Feng Shui Consultants.
Everything that exists, be it organic or inorganic, has Qi (configurational energy). Everything that has Qi has Yin and Yang quality. Balance and harmony of Yin and Yang lead to peace and prosperity. Nature is magical, personified and vulnerable.

Reference:

“The Image of Nature in Geomancy” Article in Geo Journal 4.4 p 341-348, 1980 By Yoon, Hong-Key, Ph.D.  Dept. of Geography University of Aukland, New Zealand.

“Luopan Tongsu Jiedu” or “Luopan Easily Explained” (in Chinese) By Prof. Wang Yu-de. (Not yet published)

“Feng Shui Tan Yuan” or “The Origin of Feng Shui” (in Chinese) By He Xiaoxin, Southeast University Publishing House, Nanjing, 1990