Feng Shui for Architecture: How to Design, Build and Remodel to Create a Healthy and Serene Home
By Simona F. Mainini, Dr. Arch.
Founder and President of Feng Shui Architecture, Inc. Beverly Hills, CA
Feng Shui for Architecture by Simona Mainini is a handbook for builders, homeowners, professional designers, and architects. There is valuable advice for each group to be found within its covers, not the least of which is her desires to “assist homeowners and professionals in designing houses with ‘good’ Feng Shui from the start instead of trying to put a bandage on problems or make patchwork corrections after the fact.”
Ms. Mainini is a graduate of Milan, Italy’s Polytechnic School of Architecture and interned with Eric Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles, CA. She studied with Master Larry Sang founder of the American Feng Shui Institute, where she also became a teacher. This book can be used as a reference for home/office design and furniture or as a check list for those of you who are planning to build or buy.
After an interesting discussion on the history and development of feng shui the subject turns to what feng shui can and cannot do, how to choose a consultant and a short discussion on western styles of feng shui that have become popular of late. The relationship between architect and feng shui practitioner can be fraught with misunderstanding. The author provides some valuable insights on this relationship. After all, both professionals want the same result, a beautiful building that functions well and provides an environment conducive to productivity and health.
In the following chapters the applications of feng shui to architecture are outlined. From the beginning step of selecting the site through designing the interiors, the building energy, customizing the building, to construction and timing are covered. Qi, the basic life force practitioners work with, is often difficult to explain. Here it discussed in terms that are easy to understand and connections are made to other culture and even modern physics. Yin and Yang, the forces that we balance in the environment, and the 5 element transformations, one of the ways we accomplish this balancing and the 8 trigrams/lo shu are also covered.
Concepts presented in the book are illustrated with photos and real case studies. This format makes it easier for the reader to relate to the information. You are not just told to do this or not to do that, but what might happen if you do. After covering topics such as land elevations, soils, plantings, water features, the different types of shas (negative energy), building shapes, doors, square footage, various rooms in the house, and more, Ms. Mainini gives a quick peak into more advanced theories such a 8 mansions, which matches occupants with specific buildings and flying stars, which take into consideration the element of time.
This is a handy and well written book for anyone interested in traditional feng shui and its application. If I had to make a criticism it would be that the black and white photos were not as sharp as I wished for. But that is indeed a very small thing. Go find this book and read it today.
By: Diane Kern
Every building is rich in character and essence. Every door and wall is believed to have a different story to tell. It takes a lot of visualization, imagination and persistence to witness your ideas taking shape. If you have these qualities, then you are definitely an architect in the making. For anyone who is good at drawing, talented at designing and imaginative, architecture might prove to be a highly rewarding career to pursue.
An architect is responsible for planning and designing the foundation and interiors of a building or a home. Architects also design the blueprints and plans for skyscrapers, buildings, homes and even mansions. Every successful architect is required to be imaginative and versatile and at the same time, he should be able to respect the customer’s preferences.
From the very first time man decided to build a structure other than a private hut for his own dwelling place, there has been a need for someone to design and oversee its construction. Since that time, architecture has helped develop structures reflecting and integrating the theme of the particular times in the buildings of civilization.
An architect is someone who plans, designs, and then oversees the construction of a building. The first buildings were primitive huts that served as shelters, but as people began to come together in communities there was a need for communal building. Even as some dwellings became larger, there was also a need to have someone with the knowledge necessary to build them. The word architect comes from the Greek words meaning chief builder. This shows the actual purpose of the architect. Architect history is also the history of building itself.
In the very early dawn of civilization, it is doubtful that the profession of architect existed as a separate entity. The more proper term would have been builder. The builder of a building was also the one who planned it and executed the design. One of the earliest examples of the architect would have been the Egyptian Pharaoh, Imhotep, who was said to have originated the idea and ordered the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser. It is doubtful that he would have been involved in any of the physical labor of the project. He would have been only the one who visualized what he wanted and ordered it done.
A study of Architect history might properly be the study of the specialization process that separated the design and planning elements of building from the actual construction and labor. The early architects knew how to build because they did build. They learned their crafts through hands on work and trial and error. As knowledge grew and also was recorded, it became possible for people to visualize and design buildings and then hand the plans to craftsmen who executed the actual work. The role of the architect began to separate from the role of the builder. The architect became the one who provided oversight to the construction, but would not be actual laying the bricks or sawing the lumber.
This led to the idea of a relationship between the client and the architect. A wealthy man might have a vision of the kind of home he wished to build. This vision would express his desires and the architect would translate this vision into a practical reality. He would determine how the vision could be brought to a physical state and then would draw up the detailed plans that would be needed to guide the builders. This process would be followed for public buildings and churches. The mighty Gothic Cathedrals of Medieval Europe were good examples. A king might commission one by ordering a might building that would glorify God. It would take an architect to translate this into a visible plan and then an idea of how the plan might be followed to produce the finished project. Many of these buildings took generations to complete. Through the building process, the architect was there to guide and advise the builders.
In the modern era, the architect drifted away from the idea of being limited to meeting the needs of a client. They began to design buildings more to express their own ideas and experiment with their own creativity. This led to the creation of what were called ultramodern building that were often awesome in appearance, but rather impractical. Recently, architects have begun to relate again to the client as they did in earlier times. They are again taking inspiration from the visions of people and translating them into practical designs.
By: Aazdak Alisimo