Subject: Re: Feng Shui (sp?)

From: [email-masked] ([email-masked])
Date: 12 May 1995 23:18:21 -0400

[email-masked] (Dwillard20) writes:

>What is this?  How can I get more info on it?  Thanks in advance....

Feng shui means 'wind water' in Chinese, and it's the ancient Chinese
art of placement & how to arrange things (houses, furniture, buildings,
it applies to any scale) for the optimal flow of the life force 'chi'.

Opinion:  as recently as three months ago I thought feng shui could
somehow be applied to urban planning, architectural and interior design
problems in the western world.  Was even considering keeping the feng
shui FAQ for alt.chinese.fengshui newsgroup, where you can find more 
information if you like.  But the study is so mystical (never get the same
answer twice) and splintered and un-westernizable that I'm ready to 
give it up as a fat load of claptrap.  Bah!  Humbug!  

My $.02.

Walt
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Arkatekt)
Date: 13 May 1995 11:31:12 -0400

I am in agreement with you.

>From  what I have seen and read about the ancient art, it would be like
playing with a Ouija board on an urban planning scale.  People can do
whatever they wish within their own spaces but dont subject the masses to
this witchcraft

My $0.01 if that

Joel D. SIlverwatch
JS Design

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From: Jeffrey Olson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 May 1995 12:22:27 -0700

This is such arrogance--because you don't understand something you 
relegate it to "witchcraft." Fengshui accomplishes two very important 
elements that we could benefit from: fengshui directs city planning from 
macro perspectives with a much greater awareness of the importance of 
strategic long-range planning than we ususally are able or willing to 
consider. And, fengshui gives a city's citizenry the power to effect their 
enrironment in a way that respects their own priorities and identities. 
Fengshui is one of the most effective design review processes in the 
world. Think of fengshui as a building/development standard. It ensures 
that persons of wealth and power repect the entire community and the 
overall environment. But, also understand that fengshui is practiced in 
many different ways by persons of varying abilities. As a result more than 
one solution can be offered--at times apparently contradictory solutions. But,
isn't this what design is all about, exploring and refining solutions? If you
want to be a hegemonic developer or an oppressive government, you will 
probably find little appealing in fengshui. But, if you are a member of a 
community interested in the macro and micro effects that the built 
environment has on your life, you will likely find that fengshui is a 
powerful ally.

Jeff Olson
Anthropologist and Urban Designer

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From: Jeffrey Olson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 00:05:39 -0700

On Sun, 14 May 1995, Robert W. Tom wrote:
<What's spooky though, is that some poor souls have to spend a portion
of their lives in spaces that they create.> 

Mr. Tom:

I'm not sure I understand you completely here. Do you really want to 
suggest that it is possible for humans to live without design? It is, 
after all, one of our most important and defining features: we alter 
our environments. Activities like fengshui and other forms of urban design are 
simply more mature versions of this human prediliction. I think it is 
also important to remember that design is going to occur whether or not 
it is a conscious act. In the same way fengshui constantly occurs; the 
intent of "practicing" fengshui or most other forms of design is to make 
conscious our relationships among ourselves and our (built) environment.

Jeff Olson