As humans, we live in a world of relationships, whether these relationships are with others or whether they are with the spaces we inhabit. All impact the quality of our lives. The practice of Feng Shui believes that our living environments often contain hidden meaning or metaphors for our lives. By understanding these metaphors we are better able to adjust our environments to create spaces that support what we desire in life.
A recent article in the New York Times, stated that cognitive neuroscience was the dynamic energy behind the way many architects, landscape architects and urban designers create the shapes and structures of our built environment.
According to Sarah Williams Goldhagen, author of the New York Times article, “…the mind is less rational that we believe and more associative than we know. Many of the associations we make emerge from the fact that we live inside bodies, in a concrete world, and we tend to think in metaphors grounded in that embodiment.”
One of the ways these associations are manifesting in the design world is through buildings and their connection to nature. Some buildings are incorporating large green areas, or natural habitats to create both a sense of serenity while embracing our inherent relationship with nature. Others are incorporating shapes taken from nature, such as trees, mountains and flowing water.
A metaphor frequently used in the build process is a tree metaphor. Trees represent safety, comfort, nurture, and shelter. We naturally gravitate toward trees as protection from the elements and as a place to gather, trees have a vibrant life force that we find comforting and safe.
The Times article states, “…Tree imagery helps construct a distinctive public place that offers shelter and areas to congregate. As under spreading trees, the boundaries defining these spaces are permeable; easy to enter and exit, they offer natures spatial freedom yet help people to feel more firmly rooted where they are. And tree metaphors deployed architecturally, simultaneously lament nature’s absence and symbolically insert its presence.”
When design and nature meet the result should be a “richer built environment, grounded in the way people actually experience the world around them.”
Plants bring life and vibrancy into an environment, raising and expanding the energy. As science and design unite to create structures that meet our needs for shelter and our vital connection to nature, our living environments will become synonymous with comfort, safety and a sense of harmony. We’ll begin living a lifestyle that embraces Feng Shui, nature and our innate desire for balance, harmony and a sense of belonging. A home for our mind and soul.
Comments