The Feng Shui of a high-rise apartment building is also defined by the classical Four Features Model but from a slightly different perspective.
In an urban setting, for a building to have good Chi-Energy, it is necessary for all Four Features to be present. However, in this situation the buildings in the city substitute the natural landscape and function as landforms, representing the metaphors for Mountain and Guardians.
Empty space and streets represent the Water feature, and the Energy Spot is where the building sits. Most high-rise buildings sit on relatively flat ground, providing a good Energy Spot.
Generally, the apartment building forms are square or rectangular, both of which are wholesome forms.
In the city, high-rise buildings are often found in clusters. In such scenarios, for the Mountain and Guardian features, each building plays a mutual supporting and protective role for the others. However, if a high rise stands alone, with no other high-rise buildings in its vicinity it becomes vulnerable since the Mountain and Guardian Hills features are weak or missing.
In this situation, the Chi-Energy is dispersed. On the other hand, if high-rise buildings are too close to each other, the Chi-Energy flow is blocked.
Chi-Energy flow relates to the Water feature. For a high-rise building, this can be assessed from its site, and the spacing from neighboring buildings. In nature, water always flows downward. Therefore in Feng Shui, when a high-rise building sits on relatively flat and low ground, with adequate spacing from its neighbors, this allows for good Water and Chi-Energy flow.
Now that we understand the overall building assessment, let’s take a look at an individual apartment unit. The Feng Shui of any individual apartment unit is based on the Feng Shui of the whole building as well as the location of this unit and its floor plan.
In addition, there are two factors to be considered: the unit’s floor level and its location within the floor plan. First, let’s look at the floor level. The energy in the floors closer to the ground is different from the energy in the upper floors. The floors closer to the ground tap more into Earth energy while higher floors tap more into Heaven energy. Therefore, lower floors tend to have more stability and cohesiveness while the upper floors resonate with the energy of vision and expansion.
Lower floors resonate with Water feature qualities, thus in general this is where retail businesses are located. In comparison, residences and offices are located on higher floors. From the Yin-Yang Theory point of view, the bottom represents grounding energy and the top represents expansion energy.
Next, let’s look at the location within the floor plan. The Chi-Energy flow to an apartment unit is associated with its ease of accessibility. The elevators and staircases provide a vertical passageway for the Chi-Energy flow.
The ideal location of an individual unit on any given floor is related to its distance from the elevators and staircases. If too close, the Chi-Energy flow is too fast. If too far, the Chi-Energy flow slows down.
The most important Feng Shui factor for an apartment unit is its individual floor plan. When assessing its Feng Shui, we assess it in the same way as the layout of an individual family home.
