California Measure Would Align Building Rules With Feng Shui

NYT ^

[Sir Gawain]

California Measure Would Align Building Rules With Feng Shui By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN

Published: January 30, 2004

SAN 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."

[goldstategop]

More silliness from the California State Legislature. See what happens when you leave liberals in charge?

[RightWhale]

We might feel better about this if if we didn't know that fung schwey and water witches are the same.

[Ditter]

I looked on the internet trying to find exactly what feng shui was but could not find out. Is it common sense things like not having big west facing windows in hot climates or just what?

[So Cal Rocket]

The California Building Code is already a joke today! I'm re-doing my kitchen, and the Cal Bldg Code requires that the overhead lighting be flourescent. When I asked the building inspector if this was because of fire safety, he said "No, it's a state electricity conservation measure - and their trying to change it so that ALL overhead lighting in your house has to be flourescent".

[Jim Robinson]

Liberals, God bless 'em.

[DManA]

ATTENTION ACLU!!! SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AOOOOOGAAAAA!!!!

[So Cal Rocket]

It's crazy stuff like: don't have your front door facing a church, don't paint your front door a certain color, arrange the trees in your front yard in a certain geometric shape, etc...

[goldstategop]

Liberals are obssessed with making sure every one is in harmony... so they come with a hare brained idea like this.

[antaresequity]

Buy super duper cheap POS surface mount flo fixtures. Hang them for inspection, and then swap them out after final.

In addition to kitchens, you must use flo lights in bathroom, closets and laundry rooms as primary light source.

The trick is to have your sparky run the feeds such that it routes for any future layouts for conventional or halogen fixtures. Do loop coils over each future location and go to the next location. Terminate this looping run at your flo fixture. Fire that up for the goon on inspection.

Its a snap then after final to ditch the flo, cut in the cans, warm 'em up and shazam...your bathing in the finest 4ow halogen gas light known to man...

Screw the inpsector.

[RightWhale]

Fung schwey is related to whether buildings and machinery are of a form so that people can use them without getting caught in the gears. That is, do you have to step over piles of old WSJs every time you enter or leave the room?

[Ditter]

Do they give a practical reason for these things? Or is just someones preference from 1000 years ago that has become a rule?

[So Cal Rocket]

I'm doing something very similar to what you suggested... and guess where the idea came from - the inspector himself!! He said just hook up the flo to pass inspection - he doesn't care what I do after he leaves!

I think he feels the same way about the "Green" laws built into the Building Code - he's just interested in the Safety items.

[Wright is right!]

"Buy super duper cheap POS surface mount flo fixtures. Hang them for inspection, and then swap them out after final."

Lots of ways to screw the Codes guy. This is one of the best. You don't need a Codes inspection when you replace a fixture with another fixture, so they'll never know.

When I used to install phone systems on-site, we frequently had to deal with Mr. Codes. Lots of stuff got done after he'd greened us.

Nowadays, I don't have to mess with them. I sell the Avaya phone systems via the 'Net and the customers get to install them and --- mess with Mr. Codes.

Michael

[IronJack]

Since Feng Shui has close ties to Daoism, can't this be forbidden under "separation of church and state" doctrine? Or does that only apply to Christianity?

[Ditter]

Like door ways that even fat people can get thru? Stairs that have the right size steps, not like at the movies where thay are too deep for one step but not deep enough for two?

[RightWhale]

Yeah! Movie theater steps are terribly deficient in fung schwey.

[fso301]

Is it common sense things like not having big west facing windows in hot climates or just what

I'm no expert but my opinion is tht it's common sense mixed with superstition.

.Things like not having your house at the end of a dead end road. For us, that's obvious in order to avoid someone driving into your house. For feng sui, it's because the evil spirits are a bit dumb, uncoordinated and can't turn well so they will tend to miss sharp turns and continue in a generally straight line. You don't want that line to lead into your house. It turns out, that dumb spirits and inattentive drivers have much in common.

If you do happen to live at the end of a dead end street, your house would have bad feng sui, there are things you could do to improve the feng sui such as planting a barrier of trees and dense shrubs. That green barrier would tend to deflect the evil spirits from traveling off the road and into your house. Naturally, that green barrier also prevents car lights and inatentive drivers from running off the road and into your house.

A house that otherwise has good feng sui could have bad feng sui if it had a large tree up close and blocking the view into and out of the front door. To improve the houses feng sui, you would remove that tree. Interestingly enough, most houses tend to have trees and greenery to the sides so as to obscure the view of the side walls when seen from the front. The effect is to make the house look larger and more asthetically pleasing. In feng sui, this is done to channel good spirits into the front door of the home.

It goes on and one. Some of it is plain common sense, some of it is superstition.

[TheBattman]

Yep, you can require compliance with Easter Mysticism, yet ban anything Christian....

[ErnBatavia]

Ommmmmmmm.......Ommmmmmm.....Ommmmmmm