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Tao:
The Foundation
of Connectedness
by Lenore Weiss Baigelman & Nanilee Wydra |
Tao (dow) traditionally is thought of as the way things
naturally are. It is a process rather than a thing. In
the context of buildings, Tao sheds light on our need
for centeredness. From the electron’s flight around a
nucleus to planets orbiting our sun, every system needs
a central core that is both definable and vital to the
system’s functioning. Humans are pack animals and our
environments need to support the feeling of being in a
delineated, finite space with a clear-cut heart or
center. Whether you live with five others or alone, your
home and the broader environment in which you live needs
a heart. In a town square, park or boulevard lined with
cafés or in the home a place that allows the residents
to dine, relax or socialize is precisely what the Tao is
all about.
Applied to how we live, the Tao draws us out of
isolation into involvement or interaction. The Tao of
home, then, emphasizes the importance of common spaces.
A space where residents dine, socialize, and relax is
the nucleus of a home, which is a physical expression of
the Tao. Homes that do not provide any connective
central areas engender a feeling of isolation in their
inhabitants. Homes that separate the functions of
dining, socializing and relaxing discourage intimate
associations and can ultimately produce a malaise that
prods the inhabitants to fill much of their time with TV
watching, working or engaging in other solitary
activities. If there are no visible connections to
dining, socializing and relaxing, a home will not have a
recognizable, life-supporting heartbeat.
Literature and folklore often refer figuratively, as
well as literally, to the life supporting center as the
"hearth". The word "hearth" is
derived from the Old English "heorth" which
comes from the Indo-European "ker." "Ker"
is the ancient word for "fire." Figure 1.1
shows how to support this need for centeredness by
removing walls to connect disparate spaces in a home.
Fig 1.1
Every space has the potential to meet your needs.
Whether you are thinking about altering one room in an
existing home, building an addition or shaping a dream
home, our book Feng
Shui Principles for Building and Remodeling
provides information for concepts that
- Translates feng shui’s for today’s built
environment in meaningful, relevant ways
- Thorough assessments of individual requirements to
help select architectural patterns for supporting
lifestyle needs
- Gives clear examples of emotional messages
transmitted by building materials and aesthetic choices
- Offers in-depth guidance to facilitate whether to
remodel, buy or build
- Supplies a framework to understand how room
juxtapositions can support the highest and best use of
space
- Provides fully developed concept-floorplans for
contemporary family and alternative living arrangements
- Proves that aesthetics are only one component in the
palette of building a work of art called home.
© Copyright 2002 Lenore Weiss Baigelman and Nancilee Wydra. All Rights Reserved.
Lenore Weiss Baigelman, AIA, FSII,
Architect, Author, Speaker, Consultant. With a strong background in architecture and interior design, Lenore has been responsible for the design of numerous building types and projects. Maintaining a keen interest in both the
tangible and intangible quality of space, she has enthusiastically integrated
the application of feng shui into the practice. Sharing her fascination with
the way people experience their personal environments, she is a national speaker, teacher, and consultant on the subject of feng shui as "The Person-Place
Connection." Her website is www.fullcirclearchitects.com.
Nancilee Wydra, FSII,
Feng Shui Master and author of eight books on feng shui,
travels the country lecturing and consulting for Fortune
500 companies and individuals. She is the founder of the
Feng Shui Institute of America and has developed the
first nationally certified professional training program
on feng shui in the country. To
secure additional information about her lecturing,
consulting and teaching contact her at: NancileeWy@aol.com
or visit www.windwater.com
or 888-488-FSIA or --for FREE answers to feng shui
questions: www.EfengshuiUSA.com.
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