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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1716
Location: San Francisco
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 Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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"The physical environment has a direct effect on our physical body. If we actually “listened” our bodies tell us what we need to know. Our minds “interpret” and “filter” what the body feels and that is where the dysfunction happens. Some of FS is common sense, but then common sense isn’t so common, is it. If something in the environment is having a negative effect on your body, and by extension your mood and your thinking, then you change/remove/block the energy of that thing that is causing the problem. "
In purely architectural terms, it seems to me that the primary (though not the only) emotional effect that our environment has on us is a visual one; that is, we SEE form and space, light and shadow, and are directed into, around, through and away from forms based on visual input. To me, the "bodily effects" derive primarily from what we can see, and the feelings we get -- attraction, desire to avoid, "warmth" and its opposite -- are then felt in the body.
Transmuting metaphysics into "physics" seems not only contradictory but specious. I'd rather take my architecture "straight," manipulating form with the intention, among other things, of eliciting feeling in ways and by means that I can understand -- of directing, welcoming, guiding, comforting, confirming, assuring, and also surprising, delighting and inspiring. There is plenty enough of subtlety, and plenty of challenge, in using the traditional tools of architecture to try to achieve these aims, without resorting to (non architecturally trained ?) practitioners who claim an inside track to the "unknown."
I'm sure that there's a lot of baloney mouthed by architects too -- it's hard to talk about visual effects with any assurance that one is speaking truth, or that one is being understood. And, there are no doubt various degrees of sensitivity to effects on the part of both designer and client. If there's a meeting of the minds on a project, good things can happen. If there's a lack of trust, or a fundamental disagreement, the work will be compromised. I imagine the same things are true regardless of the kinds of specialists employed. . .
SDR |
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solidred
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Posts: 623
Location: Scotland
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | I'd rather take my architecture "straight," |
same here. I don't trust what I don't understand and I take precious little on trust from others. There's too much abuse of trust out there.
That said, would you agree that it's practically impossible to get a successful project through to completion without trust?
Therefore, it becomes not a dialectic between 'trust' and 'no trust' but a negotiation of degrees of trust and compromise of result. Being a paranoid perfectionist, I find this a tough one. Better everyone simply trust me  Back to the real world, though, it's neither a matter, in architecture, of doing everything onesself nor of entrusting significant aspects of a project to people we don't understand doing jobs we don't understand. And sure, it's better to concentrate on perfecting the quality of what we do know rather than casting around wildly for answers elsewhere. But in the process, I guess the idea of continuing professional development is that, however grudgingly, we give airtime to these 'answers elsewhere' on the offchance that some of them prove to be of some use. |
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1716
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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I'll agree with that. If I were the designing architect on a project, I would certainly have to rely on a structural engineer, an HVAC specialist, a good lighting person, etc etc in order to have a successful result.
SDR |
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fengshuiarch
Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Archimotion,
| Quote: | | … As there are various modalities of Feng Shui, maybe this is why the conceptions are confused. This is why it is difficult to be able to distinguish between the various modalities. |
It IS confusing. That is why I am hoping to shed light on it.
| Quote: | | I have some notions of Feng Shui, as you can see. I only got the basic natural elements of the equation erased from my memory - wood, fire, earth, metal and water. But why is not earth, wind considered in this? Actually, wood, earth, metal and water all all part of earth. So if we have earth, wind, and fire, we have a perfect model that covers all these. |
I am not familiar with your definition of earth wind and fire. In FS the elements wood, fire, earth, metal and water refer to movements of energy.
| Quote: | | So then, how to you establish the critical points in the environment? All from extra-sensory perception? |
The critical points can be anything depending on the context. In my example, the tree was a critical point to my client. It was probably a critical point to the neighbor who owned the tree – an old woman who recently died. But it was not critical to the neighbors across the street. The tree was too small and too far away. I would say that I have been trained (with examples and case-studies) to pay specific attention to ordinary things in the environment that can affect us. It is not extra-sensory.
| Quote: | | So depending on our environment, we are either going to fail or to succeed? |
You can improve your chances of success by using feng shui.
| Quote: | From what I understand from Feng Shui, one must order the physical environment to respond to the elements of nature. Thus, the choice of house location, orientation, internal furniture arrangements, and the placing of earth, wind and fire elements into the environment determine the degree of balance we have between positive and negative forces. Thus, once we achieve a state of internal harmony with our environment, all our decisions will result in prosperity and further good decisions. Thus, wisdom is achieved by uniting man with his environment and ultimately with nature.
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I would use different words but ideally that is the goal.
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csintexas
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Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1919
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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You can improve your chances of success by using feng shui.
What evidence would support this theory?
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Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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djswan
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 848
Location: Montana, USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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the bold quotes are coming out again.
the first clue.
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Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 155
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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FSArch,
Why don't you offer a "reading" of a forum volunteer's space as a test. Being that most replies to this post is skeptical of your claim of what FS can do. If what you say is right, it really does not matter whether the person believes in your system or not. |
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1716
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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"You can improve your chances of success by using feng shui" is typical of claims made that can neither be proved nor disproved, because no one can live through a period of time twice.
Therefore, it is essentially a fraudulent claim -- which doesn't prevent it from successfully selling a product or service to that segment of the public who are credulous. "There's a sucker born every minute" is the operative cliche.
SDR |
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ArchiMotion
Joined: 31 May 2008
Posts: 315
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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| SDR wrote: | "You can improve your chances of success by using feng shui" is typical of claims made that can neither be proved nor disproved, because no one can live through a period of time twice.
Therefore, it is essentially a fraudulent claim -- which doesn't prevent it from successfully selling a product or service to that segment of the public who are credulous. "There's a sucker born every minute" is the operative cliche.
SDR |
I think I don't agree with this. For us to achieve success in any venture, idea, plan, vision, we must first be in a state where negative forces have been reduced, so that the positive attractive forces govern. Thus, if we have harmony in our environment, we have reduced the chances also of internal negative energy governing in our endeavors. Has any one seen the movie "The Secret"? This is what this is all about. Not that I subscribe to the views presented there, but certainly one can benefit from re-aligning ones energy to mentalising positive situations which transpose themselves into positive thinking and positive results. If one is absorbed in environments which present conflicting elements, there is no balance in the forces which are affecting our mental state. Just a jar out of place, a metal element wrongly placed, a building oriented in the wrong direction can mean the difference between a successful environment and one that causes a mental drain. So in summary much of this makes sense. |
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1716
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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Who decides whether a building is "oriented in the wrong direction" ? Wrong in what objective way ? According to which bible ?
I fully agree that positive feelings are more productive, more desirable, than negative ones. If someone feels, or is told, that a building or a tree are somehow creating "negative energy" -- by what criteria ? to what actual effect ? --and they believe what they are told to feel, then so be it. But please don't try to convince me that there are repeatable effects at play. . .
SDR |
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ArchiMotion
Joined: 31 May 2008
Posts: 315
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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| SDR wrote: | Who decides whether a building is "oriented in the wrong direction" ? Wrong in what objective way ? According to which bible ?
I fully agree that positive feelings are more productive, more desirable, than negative ones. If someone feels, or is told, that a building or a tree are somehow creating "negative energy" -- by what criteria ? to what actual effect ? --and they believe what they are told to feel, then so be it. But please don't try to convince me that there are repeatable effects at play. . .
SDR |
As the Feng Shui Architect has demonstrated, it comes from a long period of environmental observation.
The proper orientation of a building has to do with environmental responsiveness, as much as it has to do with wind, sun and other constraints. There are many forces around us that in standard architecture are not seriously considered when placing a building on a lot. I will let the Feng Shui Architect reply to this, rather then trying to answer this all alone.
As far as the tree having a negative effect, this is debatable. How could one perceive this negative effect. The tree was dry, looking abandoned. Sub-consciously our mind is telling us something is wrong, but we don't know what it is. The feeling of something being wrong in turn reflects upon our mental state, creating a negative balance of mental energy. To achieve a positive balance, the elements in the environment creating this negative mental drain must be neutralized or dealt with. The tree may have not regenerated immediately, but in the person's mind, the negative sub-conscious mental energy was removed, thus restoring the balance of the entire environment, once the mental condition has been restored, or vice-versa. |
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SDR
millennium club
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 1716
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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Umm. . .right. My BS detector just went off big-time. But maybe that means something to someone, somewhere. . . 
SDR |
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csintexas
millennium club
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1919
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:52 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | You can improve your chances of success by using feng shui" is typical of claims made that can neither be proved nor disproved, because no one can live through a period of time twice. |
That may be true, particularly on an individual basis but by studying two large and nearly identical populations in the same area/time you could provide some circumstantial evidence.
It isn't like the West is anti-harmony or anti-balance.
We promote balance in all aspects of our lives: work and play, family life and social life, TV watching and exercise, balanced diets, environment with lifestyle, etc..
We don't have the particular belief that watering a tree will improve our love life.
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Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
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ArchiMotion
Joined: 31 May 2008
Posts: 315
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:34 am Post subject: |
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| SDR wrote: | Umm. . .right. My BS detector just went off big-time. But maybe that means something to someone, somewhere. . .
SDR |
Ya right, George Carlin - "these people are full of sh..."
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ArchiMotion
Joined: 31 May 2008
Posts: 315
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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So in all this, Feng Shui still stands as being able to contribute significantly to helping us understand the relationship and interaction between man and the environment, even though all may not adhere to it's teachings.  |
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