Monday 20 July 2009

When Feng Shui Crosses The Line


I recently stayed in a resort called Legends on the north coast of Mauritius. On our arrival my sister and I both noticed the resorts 'obsession' with the yin-yang symbol, we would later find out they also had an 'obsession' with Feng Shui. Feng shui is said to be the relationship between humans and objects, and those objects space within the universe. It also relies heavily on the yin-yang theory that everything should be balanced. In recent years Feng Shui has taken a step into the western world were apparent Masters of Feng Shui are employed by westeners to ensure the interior design of their home complies with that theory. Something that seems to be more of a status statement, fashion trend or fad more than the original intended use of the theory. Anyway our room had been designed with this in mind, this was obvious by the open plan like feel of the room to the point were the shower and bath were part of the bedroom and only separated by see through bamboo blinds. Something my sister and I were obviously not impressed by as we were sharing a room. This I imagine would not bother the majority of the guests in the resort as they were mostly honeymooners, but the fact that we had a twin room surely shows that if you don't want to sleep in the same bed, you don't want an open plan bedroom bathroom mix with no privacy. Either the importance of the room layout according to Feng Shui was too important to the hotels architect / designer or they put no thought into different room designs according to sleeping arrangements. There are certain cases within design were functionality is compromised by the form of the item and if it backs up the idea then this can work but surely a hotel environment is not somewhere were you should allow and Feng Shui to rule over common sense and functionality and good design.

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