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March 16, 2004
When California State Assemblyman Leland
Y. Yee recently proposed a resolution urging the California
Building Standards Commission (CBSC) to adopt building standards
that promote Feng Shui - a Chinese practice in which a structure
or site is chosen or configured so as to harmonize with the
spiritual forces that inhabit it - in the California Building
Standards Code, his office didn't even think interest in the
resolution warranted a simple press release. The fact that
the resolution has spawned a controversy, garnering press
coverage as far away as South Africa and Australia, proves
just how provocative this 4,000-year-old design method is.
The original January 5th resolution was amended to address
the State Architect, local planning commissions, local design
review boards, and other agencies responsible for design.
As Yee's spokesperson Adam Keigwin makes clear, the resolution
"is not a mandate," just a suggestion to make local
municipalities more culturally sensitive about Feng Shui when
deciding to accept or decline projects. "We're not experts
in Feng Shui here," Keigwin reiterates."We're focused
on the design aspects [that are not] grounded in superstition,
religion, or spirituality." The kind of design aspects
that Keigwin refers to and that the resolution hopes to foster
are as simple as "openness, clean air, good lighting,"
and more general concepts such as feeling "comfortable
rather than boxed-in" at work or at home. Keigwin gives
an example of how Feng Shui placement is a matter of common
sense: "When you're sitting at a desk in an office you
don't want to have your back to the door, you want to be facing
it." Other basic ways to incorporate Feng Shui are having
plants that produce oxygen and keeping entryways clear of
posts or other objects that obstruct the flow of movement.
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According to the resolution, residential design enhanced
by Feng Shui has already taken hold in California: "developers
and realtors have responded to the rise in Asian homeownership
in various California communities by applying Feng Shui design
principles to properties being built or sold to meet the demands
of the consumer." As Keigwin notes: "It's what the
market wants, as seen in grand entry ways," that demonstrate
the Feng Shui principle of openness.
While many architects consult with environment and ADA compliance
experts when designing a project, the resolution encourages
architects to meet Feng Shui experts as well. Seann Xenja,
a California-based Feng Shui consultant with a background
as a contractor and a certified interior designer, applies
Feng Shui to correct problematic spaces that "shouldn't
have left the drawing board." With many architects no
longer drawing their own work, Xenja suggests that a Feng
Shui consultant can provide added attention to detail and
"grow the awareness of the building process."
Yet for many the line between where common design sense ends
and Feng Shui begins is a fluid one. As Stan Nishimura, Executive
Director of the CBSC, notes: "Feng Shui is about how
you design with the environment. Most architects practice
it to some degree, but not the way it may have been developed
in China." And still, as the spokesperson for another
California assemblyman, Kevin McCarthy, suggests, there is
a question of legislative priorities, "We should be working
on things that Californians are demanding," he says.
Diana Lind
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