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Advanced News: Feng Shui and the Singapore Flyer
Sunday, 10 August 2008

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice which purports a connection between heaven and earth, both of which directly influence a person's positive energy. Masters of the traditional practice believe that the energy affects prosperity, particularly health, wealth, and personal relationships, and determines favorable places for homes, burial sites, agriculture, and the like. It's now spread outside China, and is often used to ascertain the most favorable arrangement for furniture in homes. It even influences building design, the latest of which is Singapore's observation wheel, the Singapore Flyer.

The Singapore Flyer is the world's largest Ferris wheel, at forty-two storeys tall. It has twenty-eight air-conditioned cars, each of which can hold twenty-eight passengers. The cars face the business district as they rise, and then face the sea and beaches as they complete their journey. But Feng Shui experts iterated that the counter-clockwise rotation of the wheel stole good fortune from the city. The Flyer went against the sun and sent that energy out to sea.

Rather than scoff and dismiss the Feng Shui masters, the chairman of the Flyer considered the recommendations. Singapore may be an ultra-modern city, but many traditional values and beliefs still maintain sway. As a result, it mattered less that the changes cost some six figures (the exact amount remains undisclosed). The chairman justified the expense, likening the change to putting together the perfect ending to a movie.

Many other structures in Asia have had large amounts of money spent in order to tap into the energy. A skyscraper that looked like a giant candle had a pool constructed on the roof, as water puts out fire. Another building was redesigned to include a massive square hole in the middle to follow the dictates of Feng Shui. The wheel, as of August 4th, now rotates clockwise, and brings good fortune to the whole of Singapore.

Architecture:Jin Mao Tower

Jin Mao Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Jin Mao Tower (literally "Golden Prosperity Building") is an 88-story landmark supertall skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC & the 5th tallest in the world.

It was designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Its postmodern form, whose complexity rises as it ascends, draws on traditional Chinese architecture such as the tiered pagoda, gently stepping back to create a rhythmic pattern as it rises. Like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the building's proportions revolve around the number 8, associated with prosperity in Chinese culture. The 88 floors (93 if the spire floors are counted) are divided into 16 segments, each of which is 1/8th shorter than the 16-story base. The tower is built around an octagon-shaped concrete shear wall core surrounded by 8 exterior composite supercolumns and 8 exterior steel columns. Three sets of 8 two-story high outrigger trusses connect the columns to the core at six of the floors to provide additional support.

Petites Histoires : La Tour de la Banque de Chine,Hong-Kong

Designed by the architect I.M.Pei (Pritzker Prize winner)
Height: 305 m (367.4 m with 2 mats).
The tallest building in Asia from 1989 to 1992.
It was expected to conclude construction on the auspicious date of 8 August 1988 (reminds you of something?) But they were delayed.
The design is reminiscent of a young bamboo shoots (vitality, prosperity) but his angles are "poison arrows" clearly directed towards its neighbors (notably HSBC),some have compared to an instrument of slaughter ...

There was a little controversy at that time, it is the only major building in Hong Kong to have bypassed the Convention: consult a feng shui specialist for the design before construction.


Crée par l 'architecte I.M.Pei (gagnant du Prix Pritzer). Hauteur : 305 mètres (367,4 m avec les 2 mats) Le plus grand bâtiment en Asie de 1989 a 1992. Il était prévu de conclure la construction a la date auspicieuse du 8 août 1988 (ca vous rappelle quelque chose? ) mais ils ont eu du retard. Le design fait penser a de jeunes pousses de bamboo (vitalité,prospérité) mais ses angles protubérants sont des "flèches empoisonées"clairement dirigées vers ses voisins(notament HSBC),certains l 'ont comparé a un instrument de boucherie...
 Il y a eu une petite controverse a l 'époque,c'est le seul building important de Hong-Kong a avoir contourné la convention:consulter un spécialiste feng shui pour la conception avant la construction.