I’ve got Feng Shui question for anyone out there that knows something about it.
Ever hear of a Feng Shui rule that says you can’t have glass in a front door or entryway?
Checking through my Feng Shui books and scouring the internet I can’t find anything to support or confirm any such rule but I have a client who thinks there is. Any help?
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Replies
You'll let all the Chi in. What is the lead-up to the entry like? If there's a turn or stairs or a bush you're ok. If it leads straight to the street, bad energy.
Mike, what kind of Chi are you referring too? It's my understanding that you are supposed to let or encourage the sheng qi and discourage the sha qui. We've worked on a couple of projects over the years that have had Feng Shui consultants and in some cases very high paid Feng Shui consultants so I picked up and read books & articles on the topic over the years so that I could be familiar with it and I've never heard or read anything about a Feng Shui condition or (an absolute) rule that says you can't have glass in a front entry way door. My clients were looking at doors the other day and this weekend I heard from him that she "didn't see any that she liked because they all had glass in them and according to Feng Shui you can't have glass in a front door. Putting aside my real feelings regarding Feng Shui and considering that statement only from within the context of the practice as I understand it I thought that was nonsense. I've never heard or read that before and in a couple of the houses we worked on that had 'genuine' Feng Shui consultants I can recall them having glass in their doors and/or front entryways so I'm saying I can't imagine it being an absolute rule.
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I thought that chi & cha had to be balanced. Too much good is bad, not enough bad is not good. Being able to redirect the energy like Mike suggests with a bush or other balancing energy from the opening that the glass creates is a good way to deal with it. It also depends on what direction (N, S, E, or W) the door faces.
Been a long time since reading it though. Also found lots of conflicting interpretations in that reading.
john7g - "I thought that chi & cha had to be balanced Too much good is bad, not enough bad is not good." They do. (Or at least that's my understanding too.)
"Being able to redirect the energy like Mike suggests with a bush or other balancing energy from the opening that the glass creates is a good way to deal with it." And I agree with Mike on that too. Want I don't agree with is the idea that there is a hard and fast rule in Feng Shui that you can't have glass in a front entryway and more or less I seeking confirmation or refutation to that understanding I have.
"Also found lots of conflicting interpretations in that reading. " And we're in total agreement there! It's not hard at all to find text on Feng Shui that conflicts with or directly denies text from another author.
I'm reminded that Penn & Teller did a bit on Feng Shui for their television program Bulls***! where they looked at Feng Shui as a science where they had:
...Not that I don't think you can't or wont get the same kind of result if you put three experts on lets say French Provincial County style on the same project but the direction I might be going in is that there isn't a hard and fast Feng Shui RULE on glass (opaque or otherwise) in a front entryway.
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>What I don't agree with is the idea that there is a hard and fast rule in Feng Shui <
That pretty much sums up all of my reading on Feng Shui. Bad flow in one spot can be corrected by a mirror or something that funnels or redirects s there is no hard & fast rule about if X then Y. I find it interesting but don't live my life by it. Strange thing is that before I ever read about it, I knew there were places in a bedroom that were better for me (talking sleep).
One really hard to accept book was Feng Shui of aromas. What were you saying about bull sh!t..?
Remembering back on the readings... seems the more consistent ones were by authors with orient-all names and the ones less consistent were the ones with names I could pronounce. Lead me to believe the orient-all authors had actually lived it from youth and the pronounceable names took it on later in life as a way of living (or to make some money).
Re: your clients, they may think they know all they need to know about Feng Shui (read the Feng Shui for Dummies book once & slept at a Holiday Inn Express) and the only way to sway them is through a real master of it in person.
I don't think there's a hard and fast rule about glass in a front entry door with feng shui.
I think the orientation on the N W S E axis is one to consider with fengshui.
To me, glass is fine so long as the front door addresses the street in a logical way, e.g. it's higher up in elevation than the street, not at street level.Expert since 10 am.
OK, well it sounds like you already know more about it than I do. I have read a couple of books but never actually had a consultant on a job. What I have read immediately clicked with me as it has a lot in common with traditional Good Design. So I put on my Fung Shui hat and extrapolate what I do know.
Glass in the front door means there is no visual barrier between you and the outside, or bad Chi and the inside. Just like you don't want stairs to the 2nd floor just inside the door because the Chi will rush up to the private areas of the house, I wouldn't think you would want glass if the door is exposed to the public. IF inside or outside the door there is a transition area (IE, a place for the Chi to get confused,) then I would think a glass door is OK. Otherwise, glass doesn't provide a feeling of security, which is a big part of what Fung Shui is about.
I'm also thinking a full-light door. One with small panels in the top would provide a measure of privacy ("block the Chi"), and you'd be ok.
Good Chi is a feeling of flow and energy. Bad Chi is when that energy occurs where it shouldn't, like in a bathroom or through the middle of a kitchen.
At least that's my take on it.
Mike_Maines - "OK, well it sounds like you already know more about it than I do. I have read a couple of books but never actually had a consultant on a job. What I have read immediately clicked with me as it has a lot in common with traditional Good Design. So I put on my Fung Shui hat and extrapolate what I do know."
Well I wouldn't be so quick to give me that kind of credit. I bought and read the books I have on Fung Shui to try and understand what I heard these Feng Shui consultants saying. When you say "it has a lot in common with traditional Good Design" that's what I agree with,... up until a point. That point is when someone starts handing out Feng Shui design advice that flies in the face of my 'traditional good design sense' like an arbitrary rule like no glazing permitted in entry doors.
I would think that if I asked a consultant or FS expert "should front entry doors have glazing in them or not" the correct answer should be "...it depends".
Having gone through more of my books I'm even more confident of that thinking now too. In one of my books Feng Shui FormView Image on page 57 I found:
So right there I have one statement from "an expert" that contradicts something they may or may not have heard from another expert. Anyway I think it helps support my opinion that it all depends on the design and pattern context the entry door appears in. I think I can very easily imagine scenarios where a solid door or doors would be the best Feng Shui choice as well as scenarios where doors with glazing would be preferred. It all depends on the other elements that make up the environment and I think it also depends upon the personality of the family too. Different families have different heart beats, tempos, and energy that surround them and I think those differences would require different design to accommodate and/or complement them.
"Glass in the front door means there is no visual barrier between you and the outside, or bad Chi and the inside." Well that would have to assume that all the Chi (or Qi) outside is bad Chi wouldn't it? How do we know what kind of Chi is hanging out and flowing around in the front yard?
My thinking on design is more grounded in A Pattern Language and I approach Fung Shui as something I have to understand and know. One of my books; Feng Shui Principles for Building and RemodelingView Image has a passage in it that reads something to the effect of "consider a door for the message it delivers about the family" which I think is a much more sensible rule (and a broader and wider rule too) than entry doors can't have glass in them. The entryway needs to be a graceful elegant transition and sometimes glazing in and around the door helps achieve that and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends.
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Edited 11/18/2007 6:26 pm ET by JerraldHayes
So you're the one who recommended 'A pattern Language' in the Lost Architecture thread from a couple weeks past.
Well I got a copy and had begun reading it when at first glance seemed a bit much in somehow giving an impression one would need read the whole thing to grasp the definition of a pattern thinking but it wasn't so.
Full of interesting details in thought out reasonings involving placement and style in structures.
The final analysis of the thinking reminding me somewhat of similarities to Fung Shui concepts.
So you're the one who recommended 'A pattern Language'...
ahemm.....
believe that was me -
but carry on -
"there's enough for everyone"
Ok, so I'm getting a bit forgetful in my....ahem....old age.
btw is it friday yet?
Is that the book by Christopher somebody or other? Read it years ago.
Christopher Alexander (et al) - one of a series -
'The Timeless Way of Building' (vol 1)
'A Pattern Language' (vol 2)
'The Oregon Experiment' (vol 3)
"...a series of books which describe an entirerly new atttitude to architecture and planning. The books are intended to provide a complete working alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building, and planning - an alternative which will, we hope, gradually replace current ideas and practices." 1979
awareness raising and thought provoking -
"there's enough for everyone"
Yes, that's him. I also read (some of) The Timeless Way of Bldg.
Were considered seminal books in arch school.
How come that book is so friggin' expensive?
After having it awhile on loan from the library it started growing on me so I checked Alibris and even used they start around $40some.
Funny how that book, after first seeing it and thinking it would be leaning towards a worthless read, ends up being desirable to want as a reference tool.
How come that book is so friggin' expensive?
It's a text book, required in some classes - guarenteed market - keep an eye open on abebooks http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=alexander&sts=t&tn=a+pattern+language&x=50&y=12
about febuary you might score a less expensive copy -
ya - it changes the way you look at things - requires some brainpower to integrate patterns within patterns within patterns - I like stimulus that makes me think -
"there's enough for everyone"
rez -
"So you're the one who recommended 'A pattern Language' in the Lost Architecture thread from a couple weeks past."
I wish I could take credit for that but it wasn't me I don't even know what the Lost Architecture thread is. I just wasn't around.
"Full of interesting details in thought out reasonings involving placement and style in structures."
Yup I will say that it is a great book (or series of books I should say)
"The final analysis of the thinking reminding me somewhat of similarities to Fung Shui concept"
I would agree with you on that too. When you stick to the basics in Feng Shui it does sound a lot like Pattern Language thinking. I think when Feng Shui get all "New Age" (also called Black Hat Feng Shui) it loses something.
If you liked A Pattern LanguageView Image you might also want to check out A Theory of ArchitectureView Image By Nikos A. Salingaros. He apparently worked with Christopher Alexander on Alexander's latest The Phenomenon of Life: The Nature of Order, Book 1 An Essay of the Art of Building and the Nature of the UniverseView Image. For inclusion in this memo I'm writing to my client's regarding this bit about Feng Shui and glass in the front door I transcribed this tonight (the emphases are mine):
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It was Doud that had recommended 'A Pattern Language' in the thread 94160.110
I'm thinking he'll be putting the books you just mentioned on his 'get' list if he hasn't already.
We have a Feng Shui consultant for our project, he is in Hong Kong though. I'll see if I can get that question asked next time the person who consults with him is over there. He did predict the winner of the next US presidential election though.
TGNY - "He did predict the winner of the next US presidential election though."
I'm afraid to ask.
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It's not Kucinech or Ru Paul.
DW's into this and I'll ask her when she gets back from her trip tomorrow. IIRC, her comments have more to do with a sense of protection in the entry space. I'm guessing she'd say frosted glass is OK but not clear.
what I have heard reagrding the front door ,it is not to face a street that end where the door is facing. bad luck and bad flow of chi.
All you need to know is that Feng Shui is HOOEY. All that is a bunch of superstitious psuedoscientific mumbo jumbo.
I also recommend "A Pattern Language" for more practical lessons on orientation and design. The price of the book is inconsequential compared to the money you might spend on the woo woo consultant that speaks only gibberish.
Been reading that book of late and am finding it most rewarding.
Still chewing on their abundant use of vaults and arches tho'.
Great book. Highly recommend it.
I don't know enough about it to dismiss it as HOOEY, but I do think that a lot of the ideas are culturally derived and have very limited application here in the west.
So what do you do when the client believes it & lives by it even though you think it's hooey? Ignore the client?
That's an interesting question. I dealt with clients who had lived in Japan for some years and wanted to incorporate various ideas they had seen there. From my perspective the house suffered from their inclusion, and when I designed an addition for then several years later, I noticed it didn't use any of them.
I wouldn't work with clients who wanted to use Feng Shui as a major determinant of their house design if I felt it was going to exclude more pertinent considerations.
Mike there are actually a couple of different schools of thinking on Feng Shui what is known as Black Hat Feng Shui is very much so a "bunch of superstitious psuedoscientific mumbo jumbo" only I would add something and describe it as a 'bunch New-Agey superstitious psuedoscientific mumbo jumbo". The pejorative term even the real Feng Shui practitioner use in referring to Black Hat is McFengShui. From what I've been able to gather now too as much as 80% to 90% of the Feng Shui we see on bookshelves is Black Hat nonsense. On the other hand I think if you were to look at in it's original classical traditional form you would be struck by the many similarities between it and the language and thinking in A Pattern LanguageView Image. In many ways it really unfortunate how Feng Shui came to be so contaminated and corrupted when it came to this country.
You'll probably want to check out the SF Weekly.com article: In the Money Corner:
How a Berkeley-based religious sect sold feng shui to the country.
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Sometimes you can work out Feng shui details with a portal gate out front of the house that is at an angle to the home and lets in to an outside sitting area that shelters the front door to the heated space from the flow of chi.
If all else fails try hanging mirrors in the door or on a partition wall just inside the door.
My ex was an authority on this stuff. I gave over all pretensions of knowing how it worked as a condition of the divorce.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
My ex was an authority on this stuff. I gave over all pretensions of knowing how it worked as a condition of the divorce.
I think it's more giving up all pretensions of knowing anything is a required condition of marriage!
ShelterNerd - "
Sometimes you can work out Feng shui details with a portal gate out front of the house that is at an angle to the home and lets in to an outside sitting area that shelters the front door to the heated space from the flow of chi."
That's actually very much in the design solution I came up with but my design instincts are aligned with A Pattern LanguageView Image and as it turning out I not having much in the way of problems selling what I'm thinking. When I talk about my design recommendations I used a lot of Feng Shui language about flow of energy and stuff like that but my thinking definitely doesn't come from any kind of Feng Shui ideology. I used language saying the flow of energy in the space is controlled by the design we put into it. I said you look at a Paul Jenkins painting it a certain kind of energy in it. Look at a Edward Hopper painting and there's a very different energy. J.M.W. Turner etc etc. (parenthetically I was saying hanging a crystal here and a wind chime there and burning incense in the house isn't going to change the depressing confining stunted energy of the existing house, a good well planned artistic redesign however will.)
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cool analogy, I especially like that Paul Jenkins / Edward Hopper comparison.all the bestM------------------
"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
I actually went on for about five minutes talking about artists and 'energy'. The clients knew the art I was referring to so it worked. I gave you the cliff notes version.
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Jerrald,Very cool. The key thing is to be fluent in a language of the dwelling experience that your customer can understand and relate to, which is exactly what you did.I agree that the founding principles of Feng Shui are not hooey, but much of the "easy way out" thinking that passes for it is.There is a story about Hong Kong that comes to mind. The British leased it for 99 years from China. The Chinese were happy to take the money, for they well knew that the place had bad shui. Weren't they amazed when the Brits proceeded to repair the energy and turn it into an extremely dynamic engine of prosperity!Memorizing too many rules often keeps people from seeing an opportunity.Bill
I used to own a Feng Shui, but he ran off with a %$&^ Bichon Frise.
I now own a 'Scitzo' Shih Tzu