I am getting ready to build a custom home and would like to incorporate Feng Shui into its design. Should I find a feng shui consultant to work with my architect or should bring them in after the house is constructed?

I spoke with Simona Mainini, a feng shui consultant and owner of Feng Shui Architecture. Here is what she advised:

"In my experience, bringing in a feng shui consultant to work with your architect gives your project a much higher potential of success with definitely much lower costs.

"Because of what is involved in planning a new building, my suggestion is always to work with a feng shui consultant that also has a background in architecture. This way you can effectively communicate with your architect, and the feng shui consultant can propose realistic solutions that still respect your wishes and your architect's creativity.

"The process of customizing a house with feng shui principles can be applied to any style of building and to any ethnicity. In fact, this ancient science takes more into account the quantum changes of the 'life force' of our planet according to location and time than religious or folkloristic belief. Some cultures may have their own personal take on it (Chinese may be different than Vietnamese or Japanese), but the core principles work the same for everyone.

"While a feng shui consultant can intervene in a project at any stage, the best time is anytime between the purchasing of the lot and the design development of the building. When the consultant reviews the lot, she or he can advise you on which lot will allow you to build a building with the highest potential for both well being and financial prosperity.

"Then, from there (or if you already have a lot picked out) your consultant can provide you and the architect with guidelines to develop the floor plan or review the conceptual plan and suggest changes to it. In both cases this is an easier process because all the changes take place on paper.

"With a customized home the desired results are easier to achieve and nearer to perfection. Also, the cost you'll incur is limited to the consultation and, perhaps, an architectural fee. When working on an existing building, the advice that the consultant can offer is generally a little more limited, thus the cost is generally less. However, applying the recommended alterations can be more expensive.

"I recently worked on a project with the Newport Beach architectural firm Dawson Hannouche Pate. A building's internal energy patterns are defined by the time during which it is built and by its physical orientation. In this case, the building was going to be built in 2002, so the most appropriate orientation was 7 degrees diagonal to the property line. The orientation was mathematically applied on the site plan by the civil engineer so that the ground leveling, driveway and landscape could be planned accordingly. The orientation that I chose is based on the date of birth of the occupants and the energy distribution patterns.

"Inside the building there are nine power areas: some have excellent supportive energy, and some much less favorable. The challenge that the architect encountered in applying the feng shui guidelines was to locate the main areas, where the occupants spend most of their time, in the best power areas, then to design the house around them. For instance, the bedrooms are located in favorable areas so that proper sleeping for 8 hours will allow the body to rejuvenate and energize itself. The home office is situated in a direction that highly supports financial and career achievements. The entrances to the house are all open to receive the Chi, or life force energy, from the most favorable directions for the building.

"As capable and skilled architects, DHP Architects applied these principles in their solution, creating a final design that is architecturally striking and fulfills all of my requirements."

As results:

• All the entrances to the house open to receive the Chi (or life force energy) from the most favorable directions (for the building);
  
• The master bedroom and other bedrooms are locate most favorable areas as well, so that proper sleeping for 8 hours in those areas will allow the body to rejuvenate and energize itself;
  
• The home office is in a direction that highly supports the financial and career achievements;
• The landscape layout and the swimming pool location will support the financial well been of the property and its inhabitants;
• The overall house has great potential for people health and happy relationship.
• The ground preparation is taking place now and the 'choak date' is establish for September 1, 02 (best time of the year for this building).

Simona Mainini is an Italian licensed architect, holds a Doctore in Architecture degree from the Politecnico of Milan, Italy and is a graduate and credited instructor from the American Feng Shui Institute. She also teaches extension courses on feng shui at UCLA. You can reach her at (310) 278-8869, (310) 772-8188 or e-mail her at fsarch@gte.net

The Dawson Hannouche Pate architectural firm can be reached at (949) 261-2070.