Herman Miller invented the cubicle in 1956, with the idea of creating more privacy and helping to reduce distraction and increase concentration.  Since then, the  cubicle has become a standard feature of modern office design in the American workplace.  Offices designed using this modular unit, often called mouse mazes or cube farms, have become the symbol of human conditioning, and of the reduction of  individuality to uniformity and blandness.

One thing we know is that most people do not want to work in a “cube world”.  A common report from those working in cubicles is that they find themselves frequently checking the time, anxious for their workday to end so they can get out of the space.  After all, a cubicle design is similar to a prison cell.  Staring at a partition wall in such close proximity to one’s field of vision, throughout the long work day, replaces feelings of openness and comfort with a sense of being trapped.  This feeling, and the resulting impact on creativity, can lead to anxiety and agitation, and even make you feel that you might be going mad. How much of the work-related stress and low productivity of corporate America is due to this working environment?  Is this one of the reasons Americans seem to need to work longer hours in the office to finish their work?

Corporations at times try to save money by resisting change that benefit employees. The irony is, such changes in the long term actually benefit the corporation, as they can increase employee productivity, reduce stress levels, and increase overall morale.  But often enough, even if a company wants to move away from the cubicle work space; it is hard for most designers to know what to change to.

There have been few attempts to liberate workers from these constricting cell since the cubicle was invented.  Most changes have been superficial updates that meet technological and aesthetic advances. Over a decade ago, Knoll took on the challenge of reinventing this modular office unit, and hired a well-known architectural firm to take on the task.  However, after two years and millions of dollars spent on research, development, and engineering, they only managed to create a more expensive design that did little to resolve the core issue.

The fundamental reason for this impasse is that industrial designers have not been able to identify the real issue behind the cubicle problem. When you do not feel good in the box, you cannot argue with the feeling.  Although the cause may not be clear, the feeling itself is real and valid.

Naturally, when architects, interior designers, and furniture designers make any attempt to “improve” the design, they tend to understand and approach it from a purely physical point of view.  As I have often commented, the blind spot for designers throughout history has been that they only see a building or object as a physical body, but not as an energy body –  nor as an information carrier. There is much to learn from the wisdom of the traditional Form School feng shui in which all objects and manifestations are seen on all three levels:  as a physical body, an energy body, and as an information carrier. Designing with this in mind will naturally create functional, economical and beautiful designs.

God created the human body with a strong spine at the back to hold up the entire body, and  with openings in front, such as our eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.  Therefore, to live in resonance with our physical body, our living environment should follow this same pattern. In our daily lives, we always feel better when we position ourselves with some protection behind our back with a nice open space in front of us.

Throughout the history of world, people have followed their instincts and built their houses with the backs against a mountain, hill or more protective objects and the front doors facing bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, oceans or facing a nice field or other open space.  This is also how we should build our work spaces.  The innate flaw of the cubicle office is that it violates this feng shui design principle  which is based on natural laws.

In the terminology of Form School feng shui, we need to have Water (for expansion) in front and Mountain (for support) at back. Why is this more ideal? In simple language, when we are protected from behind, (for example with a wall closely behind us), we feel more secure, and when we feel more secure, we are more relaxed.  When our bodies and minds are more relaxed, the energy in our body flows better, and contributes to a higher spirit, happier feeling and more productivity in our work. Furthermore, having a nice open space in front of us allows an extension of view and vision.  This not only helps release our stress, it also frees and expands our thoughts, enhancing creativity.  (This is why people nowadays need to have more windows as life becomes more stressful.)

The cubicle design turns this whole principle upside-down.  The computer is placed on the working counter against the partition wall (facing a mountain); co-workers pass or approach from behind, causing one to feel vulnerable.
Regardless whether one is aware this impact or not, it builds internal invisible stress. To help mitigate the problem, and in an attempt to bring life to an unexciting space, people who work in cubicles put photos, plants and even mini-fountains in their work spaces.  Some workers place small mirrors in front so that they can see reflections from behind without turning.  All these design maneuvers may help to some extent, but they do not fundamentally fix the problem.  As long as there is no Mountain behind the chair, the insecure feeling remains.

Most bosses would not feel comfortable working in cubicles; in fact, they have the luxury of well-protected private offices. It’s hard not to wonder why bosses would put their employees into spaces that they themselves would not feel comfortable in.  Without increasing the space, it is still possible to create a working environment making people feel much more comfortable.

Some office designs do have cubicle partitions that fully protect the worker, with the opening to the side, so that people pass or approach that side.  Many people who work in cubicles do this intuitively, when they have the space to do so, by orienting their computer or other work activities toward a side wall rather than toward the back wall.  Physically, this is not as comfortable, but emotionally it will be less stressful. This is a definite improvement. If this cannot be done, it may possible to put some large plant at one’s back, as a buffer between one’s back and the world outside the cubicle.

Imaging how much better it will be, when architects, interior designers, furniture designers — and all designers! — understand the traditional Form School feng shui.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy, Feng Shui

Does religion have a role in Feng Shui?

This is a frequently asked question.
The answer is: No.  Feng shui is not a religion nor has it ever followed any religious tradition or practice.

However, most religious groups do apply feng shui principles in building their temples and monasteries. Most Taoist and Buddhist temples in China are built on a site that nourishes spiritual energy.

Headmaster Monk, Dr. Hsu and group at Temple Site

Last November, I was invited by the headmaster of Yunjui Shan (雲居山Cloud Residing Mountain) ,in Jinagxi, China,  to locate a proper site to build a new meditation and training center for the monastery. This Ch’an (zen) monastery, was established during the Tang dynasty and has over 1200 years of history.  The headmaster was very much into feng shui and I found him also sensitive to the energy of the land.  Since my suggestion was very much in accord with what he had in mind, he was very happy with my visit.

This past March, he once again asked me to help with the proper positioning of the gate for a new temple. High up in the mountain, in the rain and cold, the master walked so briskly through the woods and muddy ground, that I had to pay attention to keep up.   Overall, it was a most interesting and rewarding experience.

Dr. Hsu with Headmaster monk

From all the Buddhist and Taoist temples I have visited, I hardly find a temple without good feng shui.  Although in general, the energy at such sites is more supportive of spiritual cultivation and may not necessarily support business or commerce.

Good feng shui for business requires a more mundane energy, which in general means sites are on low ground, such as cities close to bodies of water.  Temples, on the other hand, are for spiritual cultivation, thus are mostly located on mountains or higher ground in a city.

Balance with the intended purpose is one of the key considerations of feng shui design.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy, Feng Shui

On April 12, 2006 Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, formally announced Google’s business name in China;   谷歌 (Guge)。During recent months there has been a soap opera played out between the Chinese government and Google, over which Google made the decision to move its operation to Hong Kong.   Then on April 3, 2010,   Google decided to discontinue using its Chinese company name and replaced it with “Google in China”.  The Chinese name, Guge, was used for just under 4 years.

A name as well as logo represents the information level of a company, for everything in the universe has matter, qi-energy, and information attributes.  Therefore, all successful companies have a good logo and name. When Google’s Chinese name was chosen and announced four years ago, I was very surprised and commented it was not a good sign for Google’s operation in China.  Google could have easily chosen a better name.  I wondered who was behind this naming? Doesn’t Google have better talent in its Chinese team to foresee the future difficulty by using this name?  I was puzzled.

The Chinese word Gu means Valley, Ge means Song or Singing. To sing and to have the energy extended, to have the song heard in a big way, one should stand on high ground, on top of a mountain or on top of the Great Wall, not in a valley. A valley means one is confined and trapped.

Things always begin on the information level, moves to the qi-energy level and than on to physical manifestation.  What happened today for Google was already determined when it chose its Chinese name four years ago. It was destined to fail.  Maybe by restoring its name to English it will have a 2nd chance in China.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy

In our past blog, I mentioned that a transparent glass floor is never a good idea.  Even if one understands that it is structurally sound and therefore not a safety issue, many people would still avoid walking on a glass floor.  The question I asked was; why is this so?

Several people have tried to interpret it from a yin-yang prospective.  However, this is actually an energy issue.  We project our energy through our eyes.  When we look at an object, our energy stops right there.  So keeping this in mind, let’s see how it relates to a glass floor.  When we walk on wood floor, as it is within our peripheral vision, we are subconsciously aware of the solid floor and at the same time our body, energy and mind all stop there.  On the other hand, when we walk on a glass floor, our energy and mind move beyond the glass floor, and naturally our body has the desire to move there too.  However, the body is not able to move there and stops at the floor.  At which point, the body, energy and mind are all not in unison, creating an unsettled feeling.

This brings up another question.  So, what happens when we look at something and does it affect our energy?  Firstly, many are often unaware that we are naturally projecting energy when we see something.  This is why we feel uncomfortable when someone is staring at us.  It feels like we are being pushed by a force.  Secondly, when we anchor our mind on something in our line of vision, we create a mental and physical stability.  There is an easy test to see how this works.   Try to stand on one foot.  Most people will be able to keep their balance for a while.  Now, this time try to stand on one foot with your eyes closed.   You will find that it is very difficult to maintain the same physical balance.  Why is this so? It’s not that your foot has less strength.  It’s because when your eyes are closed there is only one point ,your standing foot, to hold your balance. On the other hand, with your eyes open, you are able to project energy and anchor your vision, creating an additional point of reference to keep your body stable.  Two points of energy are easier to hold a balance than one point.

Now with this information be aware on how we use and waste our energy.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy, Feng Shui

I have been fascinated by crop circles for some years.   However, once in a while, I believe there might be some created as a hoax. But because of the consistent neat and intricate patterns, created by UFOs or other mysterious forces or not,  I find it is impossible to be the work of man.   In the world of art design, how often does one encounter such unique and beautiful designs by humans?  The crop patterns not only have been changing in size, from small to large, but the designs have developed from very simple, to extremely complicated in its detail.  The recently appeared 250 meter by 60 meter jelly fish crop circle is most amazing!  Form Defines Energy!  I do believe the design represents some sacred meaning or message.  For those of you into the Tai Chi symbol, here are two crop circles with the sacred Yin-Yang image.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy, Yin-yang

When things in nature grow and their size and quantity is plotted on a chart, they tend to exhibit what is called the normal distribution curve or a bell shaped curve.  This growth pattern, as seen in most natural objects such as, plants, animals and  humans, shows the medium size will always be the dominant size, while quantity of the small and big size are much less, creating the bell curve.

In the novel, The Medicine Box, I described a professor experimenting using qi to enhance mushroom growth.  The results created a crop that had  a mixture of very giant sized and very tiny sized mushrooms, with only a small number of middle sized mushrooms.  If we chart the crop results, it creates the normal bell curve flipped upside down, looking more like the letter ‘U’, an inverse bell curve, which is the total opposite from what is exhibited in nature.  Why does this happen?   It’s a mystery.

In 2008, the Chinese Shenzhou space craft carried 87 kinds of vegetable seeds into space.  Recently, many vegetables grown from those seeds have come to maturity and their fruit has been harvested.  All exhibit a very interesting result.

In the crop of eggplants grown from the seeds brought back from space, there were some the size as big as a honey dew melon!  What also caught my attention was the fact that on the other hand, some eggplant were as small as an egg, with very few medium sized.  This phenomenon is exactly the same as the mushrooms that were treated by qi projection.  Similarly, both exhibit the upside-down bell curve, opposite to what is seen of vegetables grown in nature.   Is there a common factor or influence from qi-treatment and space-treatment to these plants?  If so, what is it?  This could be a very interesting subject for researchers to study.

Shan-tung Hsu Energy, The Medicine Box