HOW TO SELECT A FENG SHUI MASTER FOR ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS
The Newsletter of Dr. Simona Mainini
After a wide wave of "fashionable" Feng Shui in the late 90’s and the early years of this century during which everything went– really, from Feng Shui for cars, furniture, haircuts, etc.– it has now come to the point were most consumers are now figuring out the difference between "fad" or "trend" Feng Shui and the true, real meaning behind the science, thus becoming a lot more selective than they’ve ever been before when deciding to consider using traditional Feng Shui in their designs. Having specialized in Feng Shui for architectural projects since 1997, I am very happy to see this new awareness spread amongst the very people that I have been able to assist in recent months.
Feng Shui has been mishandled in many cases by the media– most of which made it appear like the last "design fashion accessory" or a must-do "hocus pocus sensation--" causing a rapidly proliferation of so-called "certified experts" and "crash-course schools" eager to jump in on the bandwagon (and profits). In most cases these "so-called" certified experts had become "experts" by reading a few books, or simply attending a few weekend classes taught in some other so-called "expert’s" private living room— providing them with a "Certified Feng Shui Expert Certificate" printed out of their home printer as they left.
Having spent several years in an architectural school I have learned to appreciate the effort that it takes to become a professional graduate, a focus and discipline that I then applied for over 10 more years studying and teaching with one of Asia’s most famous Feng Shui Masters, and also with my travels and speaking engagements which have allowed me to come in contact with many of Asia’s other most well-know experts and teachers— allowing me to exchange case studies with them so I could share my experience and learn from theirs.
In light of all this professional experience I am just trilled to see that consumers worldwide are now becoming wiser themselves when shopping for a qualified Feng Shui consultant. Especially many companies nowadays that are in the process of constructing new headquarters or investing in real estate developments and enterprises-- not to mention doing individual construction on their new homes. They are becoming especially aware of the importance of introducing Feng Shui at the early planning stages rather then further down the line or after the construction begins.
Such forward thinking is incredibly smart: on one hand, Feng Shui is a very flexible discipline and can be applied at any stage to correct and alleviate problems; however, the benefit you’d get by using it at the time of the architectural design phase is going to make a significant difference for years to come.
In other words, if you’re planning a new construction, or major structural renovation, Feng Shui will bring you the most benefits if you employ it during the architectural design schematics rather than the interior design phase. And when it comes to large size buildings like company headquarters, casinos, hotels, public buildings, schools, and hospitals Feng Shui can really only give you benefits when used during the design planning. The buildings needed for these types of functions are simply too big to be "fixed" later with some interior design enhancements.
Now, to be able to offer a proper Feng Shui consultation for a new architectural project it takes more then just a few weekend’s worth of Feng Shui knowledge. In fact, it takes A LOT of knowledge and experience. And if you’re out there looking for a truly professional Feng Shui consultant to hire for your multi-million-dollar investment, the search to find the right one can prove very tricky. So below I have outlined some cases you may come across during your search to help you weed out the bad ones from the good:
1) I have witnessed interior designers– and sadly a few architects– tell their client how good design was "automatically" going to be good Feng Shui, implying that as design professionals they will be able to perform a proper Feng Shui application (and charge the clients for it). Well that is a myth: Feng Shui is not part of an architectural or interior design schools’ curriculum, so being a good architect or designer doesn’t mean you’re automatically a Feng Shui expert. It’s a completely separate skill.
2) Other designers claim they had studied Feng Shui as part of their "informal training," when in fact the extent of such "informal training" comes from Wikipedia over the internet, or, if you are lucky, from one of the many generic books on "How to Feng Shui an Apartment." Ask where they studied and with who, just as you might a doctor when looking for the best health care for yourself or any other professional you may hire.
3) An Asian, or Asian-looking designer or expert, is not automatically a Feng Shui expert. Feng Shui is not a gene that is acquired by a particular racial group; it’s knowledge that has to be studied by the person who wants to learn it. Also keep in mind that the study and practice of Feng Shui was forbidden in China for many years-- and even in areas like Hong Kong and Taiwan where it wasn’t one would still need to apprentice under a Master for many years to become proficient at it. In many cases lots of the Asian consultants I have seen are mostly passing Chinese folk belief and superstitions on rather than real, classic Feng Shui tradition. So investigate their credentials and background carefully.
4) The fourth category of "wannabe consultants" are those calling themselves "certified." Since there are no guidelines and standards of "Feng Shui Certification" at this point in time (and never has been) know this-- anybody can print a certificate out of their own home printer and say they’re certified. And even if one of those "Certified Certificates" gets the bearer to be so lucky as to get some work on a few residential homes, his or her knowledge and experience is most likely not going to be up to the level that a consultation for a large architectural project under development would need– regardless of their fee.
5) Next we have the professional Feng Shui Master in the making: these are indeed the most sincere and dedicated students, and, with time and experience, they will eventually blossom into fine consultants. Give them a few years. However, even then not all of them will necessarily become great consultants for new architectural projects. This is because when looking at a drawing of a building "to be," most of them evaluate it as if it was already built. I have seen it happen many times. Most of their analysis is focused on fixing little details rather than looking at the big picture which really doesn’t make the consultation any better than if it was done at a later, "interior design" stage.
Part of this has to do with the fact that some of them cannot read floor plans, or they can only visualized a two-dimensional space instead of a three-dimensional space, which can cause serious problems when you are trying to envision a not-yet existing building and trying to understand how the Qi (life-force energy) is going to move in it. (It is usually a problem for architects too.) The other part is that the vast majority of Feng Shui experts are not architects– hence they have not developed an eye for the potential of how to get the most results with minimal change and minimum cost, nor are they able to understand the architect’s thinking process and relate their comments accurately to them.
Having said that, it becomes clear that when planning a new construction or considering the budget allocated for such it just seems sensible to plan for a truly professional consultant that has expertise on how to work with large architectural projects. They might cost a bit more, but in such a circumstance a less expensive "rookie" is just not going to cut it. Hiring the right person for the job is the only way to avoid truly expensive "mistakes" that will stay with the building for a long time to come— and besides, you will just have to "fix" their mistakes later once the building is constructed, if it’s possible to fix them at all.
If you’re planning to hire a Feng Shui consultant in your area and wonder how qualified he or she really is, feel free to drop me an e-mail about it and I’ll be able to tell you more on how to spot if he or she is a real good consultant you should hire or a fake one you shouldn’t.
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