| Wang Qiheng |
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Fengshui of Venice
The Chinese believe that the world is composed of the Five Elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Five Elements are also related to geographical directions. Venice is located in the east of Europe, which is also the orientation of wood. Wood, traditionally, represents civilization and culture, hence, it is appropriate that Venice is built on several billion wooden stakes; it is a city on wood.
The Grand Canal that runs through the city creates a Tai Chi image, the Taoist symbol, of the city. The east side of the Tai Chi collects Yang aura; the Yang symbolizes a repository that gathers life. The Grand Canal surrounds the three sides of the city, which can be interpreted as a golden thread that surrounds and embraces the city, a Chinese proverb describing a river or a canal streaming through a city, and in this case, pointing to the most prosperous and thriving area of Venice: San Marco Plaza.
The National Pavilions of the Venice Biennale
From the fengshui point of view, each of the pavilions has a lot of positive qualities and the scale of the whole area is very welcoming. Some pavilions, such as that of France, Germany, and Great Britain, have vestibules in the front, which can be interpreted as a friendly characteristic that creates an inviting space before entering the main pavilions.
The United States pavilion embodies superior qualities in fengshui. It is located at a point that is lower than other pavilions, where all the great wind and energy, or aura, gather. The two-wing pavilion hugs the front yard and in essence extends to the small park in front, making it open and inclusive. It is a small pavilion that does big things, a concept describing how a small entity has all the requirements to have unexpected impact.
One of the central tenants of fengshui is the importance of the axis, the core of any given physical structure. The Italian pavilion occupies the longest central axis of all national pavilions. This axis extends to the sea to the south, and could have formed a very balanced view between Venice and the surrounding islands. However, the orientation of the pavilion does not consider this. According to fengshui theory, one should shift the axis slightly toward the west, which would open the pavilion toward the sea, also the energy channel. Or, the axis could shift toward the east to include the small island as the distant visual focal point. Finally, the main Biennale signage currently blocks the energy channel of the middle axis. This conflict can be remedied by moving the signage away from the axis about three meters.
The pavilion of the three Nordic countries has an open design that respects ecology and man, and promotes great openness. However, the outer wall should maintain its transparency with glass. Otherwise, the four solid walls currently enclosing the trees in the middle, pictorially and literally, indicate besiegement, in Chinese character.
The Netherlands’ pavilion and the Belgian pavilion are well designed. These two pavilions both slant slightly from the axis of the entrance, opening up an area through which positive aura, known as the channel of energy, can flow. As a result, they satisfy the principles of “receiving,” and “accumulation,” welcoming and riding along the flow of positive energy.
Despite all of these good qualities, the national pavilion complex as a whole has many problems and contradictions. The most prominent of these deficiencies is the lack of dialogue between the national pavilions at the Biennale and their surrounding physical environment, a dynamic that is extremely important to fengshui.
Principle of fengshui especially honors water, as it resembles blood and is the essential life force. Blockage, a central concept in fengshui, is the result of this very absence of dialogue between structures and their environments. For instance, the Giardini is surrounded by the sea and the canals, but almost all of the pavilions have thick walls preventing any engagement with the environment. The architects of the Canadian pavilion, which is sandwiched between the German and French pavilions, could have built a terrace with a great view of the water. Yet it is completely blocked. The Australian, Belgian, Hungarian, French, German, and Italian pavilions all have this problem as well. They are closed by thick walls and have only one exit. This lack of exchange with the environment has the potential to repel and renders the architecture cold and detached. The most flagrant blockage is the Brazilian pavilion, which blocks the entrance of the Venice pavilion and wrecks the symbiosis between the Austrian, Egyptian, Polish, Bulgarian, Former Yugoslavian, and Greek pavilions. This area of the Giardini exudes weakness and decline.
Many passages between pavilions are extremely narrow, and in conjunction with the thick walls, the interior space creates a force that makes the visitors feel especially repressed. If the architectural axis can be shifted slightly, the pavilion will appear more welcoming and also create an enclosed space between the German, British, and French pavilions where their current state can be compared to the congestion in human physiology, like breathing with masks on.
Another example of negative fengshui is in the dynamics that produce conflict and resistance. For instance, the corner of a wall at the entrance of a pavilion can seem very hostile, like a knife. The Japanese pavilion, built in the 50s, has a protruding outer wall that confronts the visitors and other pavilions with sharp corners, making it hard to form open relationships. Moreover, the Japanese pavilion does not drawn on the ground energy due to the un-utilized space of too much elevation off the ground creates a dead space below.
Conflict can also be found in the Spanish pavilion, where the center of the entrance directly faces the big tree blocking the energy flow of the pavilion, which could have been avoided by slightly shifting the angle of its entrance. The tree, which embodies Yin, tips the balance between Yin and Yang by blocking the exit
The Japan pavilion directly faces the row of columns in front of the German pavilion, like a cell. The columns, oppressively massive, hamper the luck, a fengshui concept of the circulating positive energy, of the Japan pavilion
The entrance of the Australian pavilion assaults the audience with a wall of corners, creating an aggressive aura. In addition, with the wall corner of the French pavilion facing its entrance, the Australian pavilion is at the same time oppressed by the facing walls of the French pavilion.
The Korean pavilion is equally dissonant relationship to the neighboring German, Japanese, British, and French pavilions. It conspicuously blocks the energy channel of the Japan pavilion. The enclosed walls of the Canadian pavilion also obstruct the British pavilion from reaching the water opening, or the breathing channel, located between the British and German pavilions.
The Arsenale, located on the east side of Venice is an advantageous location for cultural events. Formerly a site of water and fire, implying two of the Five Elements, in its former incarnation as a shipyard, now transformed into exhibition halls, the Arsenale protects architectural cultural heritage and more importantly creates a cultural discourse amongst the old, massive factory space and new national pavilions. The site collects wind and draws water, its harbor collecting breeze off the sea air, and the canal system containing the architectural complex of the medieval naval base. Its head (the harbor) connects with the tail (the canal system) in an orientation in the form of a dragon, the powerful mythical being in Chinese traditions.
The temporary China Pavilion is situated in the Virgini Garden, on the eastern side of the Arsenale. Ideally, the future China Pavilion should be moved further to the east to the entrance of the water meridian. This location of the China Pavilion represents the placement of the dragon’s head, which will bring new vitality to the Venice Biennale, and help its role at the center stage of world cultural exchange. According to my understanding of fengshui theories, the location of the China pavilion embodies openness. Openness is an extended meaning of east, which represents tolerance and peace.