Feng Shui: A Comprehensive Review of its Effectiveness Based on Evaluation Studies

Abstract

After five decades of its presence in the Western European space, the architectural profession, regardless of the popularity of feng shui, has never systematically declared itself about this phenomenon. This is a professional problem. It is equally absurd to dismiss feng shui as a bunch of superstitious nonsense without properly scientifically researching it, as well as its detailed study following all Western science standards, without asking, at least once, whether the Fengshui recommendations have the effect they promise, and if so, which and why. To answer this question an in-depth analysis of scientific articles on feng shui was performed. Evaluation studies found were divided into three groups: comparative studies where the effectiveness of fengshui's recommendations is not directly verified by field research, but compared with findings in other areas of science; field experimental studies that examine the actual effectiveness of selected feng shui recommendations, through a real or virtual environment, engaging participants and sometimes a control protocol and studies of living quality evaluation systems with feng shui recommendations. Based on the results of the studies analysed it can be concluded, that between the feng shui school of form, environmental psychology and sustainable design principles there are certain similarities, which some researchers confirm with a higher or a lower degree of correlation and statistical significance. On the other side, one of the fundamental concepts of feng shui, namely the concept of life energy qi, remains poorly researched. The conclusion is, that the greatest potential of feng shui for contemporary architecture is not so much in the practical application of its techniques and recommendations, as much of this is already included in everyday design practice, but in its philosophical and conceptual foundations. They can encourage architects to re-think spatial concepts and, if necessary, to change established spatial paradigms.