Here's a little item from today"s NY Times for the
new building committee. Actually, I think I'll use it for my critical
thinking class instead. Interesting idea to take an "energy" that can't
be reliably measured by any known means as a basis of building design. I
know I can depend on at least one student to argue for cultural
relativism--insisting that each culture's beliefs are equally valid and
deserving of acceptance. --Dave
California Measure Would Align Building Rules With Feng
Shui
By PATRICIA
LEIGH BROWN
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AN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29 � With a budget deficit of
about $14 billion, California could use a major infusion of positive
energy.
So it may be appropriate timing that in this most Asian of mainland
American regions, State Assemblyman Leland Y. Yee, Democrat of San Francisco,
has introduced a resolution that urges the California Building Standards
Commission to adopt standards that would aid feng shui, the ancient Chinese
practice of promoting health, harmony and prosperity through the
environment.
The resolution, which has yet to pass a committee vote before going to the
full Assembly, is meant to encourage planning agencies, building departments
and design review boards to provide for the use of feng shui principles, which
often touch on the placement of doors and staircases, the position of
buildings and the alignment of objects in rooms. It aims to help people live
in harmony with nature by promoting the flow of chi, or positive energy, and
neutralizing or avoiding negative energy.
"The structure of a building can affect a person's mood," the measure says,
"which can influence a person's behavior, which, in turn, can determine the
success of a person's personal and professional relationships."
Mr. Yee said: "We need to allow the _expression_ of one's culture. That's why
people come to California."
The standards commission typically deals with more mundane concerns, like
plumbing pipes. But in California, feng shui is big business. In communities
like Fremont and Cupertino, south of San Francisco, feng shui experts often
consult with developers on the layout of subdivisions, avoiding placing a
house at a T-shaped intersection, which would invite negative energy, or sha,
the mouth of the dragon .
"Feng shui is a very major cultural factor," said Irene Jhin, publisher of
the Chinese New Home Buyer's Guide, based in Burlingame.
Traditionally, feng shui is believed to have ramifications beyond domestic
tranquillity. "If there is harmony in the house, there is order in the
nation," says a Chinese proverb. "If there is order in the nation, there will
be peace in the world."
--
___________________________________________________________________
David E. Campbell, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of
Psychology Phone: 707-826-3721
Humboldt State University
FAX: 707-826-4993
Arcata, CA
95521-8299 www.humboldt.edu/~campbell/psyc.htm
