The Chinese Art of Placement and Harmony by Andrew McPherson

Architectural designers are tasked with integrating intangible symbolic elements to physical buildings. How this project relates to its location, its function, and even its culture, are some of the questions designers ponder to help shape the physical design characteristics. In China, the ancient cultural art of Feng Shui (pronounced fung schway) continues to subtly influence the shape of buildings and their placement as it has for centuries.

In my efforts to design our first project in China, my search began with a study of the Chinese culture as it relate to building placement and design. The books, Feng Shui: the Chinese Art of Placement by Sarah Rossbach, and Feng Shui: Art and Harmony of Place by Johndennis Govert, are two among many on a very complex subject that offered me significant insights.

"Feng Shui literally means wind and water and is a life skill for knowing how the energies of wind and water circulate on the earth. Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese geometric system used to determine the beneficial or hamful nature of land or buildings on the course of human life."

For all the mystery surrounding it, feng shui evolved from the simple observation that people are affected, for good or ill, by their surroundings. Growing from an agrarian way of life utterly dependent upon the land and the forces of nature, the Chinese saw an obvious link between people and their environment. Any understanding of the way these forces acted and reacted gave these people an advantage and enhanced their chances to prosper. The placement of dwellings and farms were based upon pragmatic issues of sun, water, and wind.

Over time, feng shui has grown and been influenced by subsequent philosophies. Today many practices of feng shui are in existence, some focus with greater emphasis on harmony with nature, others with harmony of shapes, and the symbols to which people consciously or unconsciously surround themselves.

The element that most caught my attention, was its graciousness as a philosphy. It has evolved and changed by absorbing new knowledge and beliefs. The I Ching, Taoism, the concept of Yin and Yang, have all played a part in creating feng shui philosophy.

While working in China, the primary issues was one of how to do work in a culture where we are the outsider. Communication is the answer. We gain knowledge and understanding by asking; the results are the values and texture of the culture reflected symbolically in its architecture.