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Related Resources • Fallingwater • What is Feng Shui? • Feng Shui Links • Frank Lloyd Wright Index

Cast Your Vote • Did Frank Lloyd Wright practice "good feng shui"? • Do his buildings express harmony with nature? • Is there an easy, uncomplicated movement of chi through rooms Wright designed? Take our feng shui poll (and see how others voted)

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Feng Shui = the Ancient Eastern art of placement

Feng shui (pronounced FUNG SHWAY) isn't an obscure ancient art any more. It's not even a wacky New Age fad. Ever since Donald Trump called upon feng shui consultants, even the most traditional Westerners are buying into the idea that the design of buildings can affect our fates.

The words feng shui mean wind/water. Feng shui designers believe that buildings should allow for a positive flow of energy (or chi). To achieve this, some feng shui practitioners use a compass and other tools to make precise measurements of walls, windows, and doors. Some practitioners follow more general guidelines. Some rely mainly on intuition.

American architect Frank Lloyd Wright lived long before feng shui became trendy in the United States. But fans often say that his buildings suggest feng shui ideas.

Let's look at what one feng shui consultant, Master Xu Weili, has to say about the classic Frank Lloyd Wright home, Fallingwater.

"FLW's genius flowed from his innate understanding of Taoist principles..." --Master Xu Weili, Windhorse Feng Shui Consultants

According to Xu Weili....

With Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright accomplished the traditional Taoist objectives of meeting wind with water, or what the Chinese describe as feng shui.

Simply said, feng shui means living in balance with nature. Fallingwater represents this ideal. For the first time, an American architect understood Chinese geomancy, and put this to work in his own way. Residents of Fallingwater could dip their toes in the waters, or breath in the clean air of a pure Pennsylvania forest. The cantilevered terraces of Fallingwater recall the great homes of Egypt and Babylon, with secret waters flowing, and secret gardens flowering.

Small wonder that the original family of Fallingwater was blessed with financial offerings.

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