To celebrate LILLIAN TOO's latest book, The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui, we look at the principles of designing houses and how you can use this blueprint to harness the energy flows of the five elements
The Pa Kua illustration on this page sums up the various attributes that have been attached to the eight main directions by different 
Feng Shui systems. Each of the symbols belonging to each Kua (or side) are said to be in harmony with each other, and are therefore complimentary. Use the element relationships to determine productivity and destruction cycles and think how these interact with the plants, colors, and furniture or your house or office
When defining the eight locations of a house or building, the first thing you need is a floor plan. This must be drawn to scale, as all measurements must be very exact. Next, find the centre of the house, draw a circle around the centre and divide the circle into eight equal sectors. Place a compass on the plan to position it, then mark each of the sectors according to the compass reading in order to identify the eight directions and locations.
This analysis need not only be undertaken for a house, it can also be used for a building, an entire shopping complex, a whole country or a small room.
There are no space limitations in the application of Feng Shui, because the influences of Feng Shui are directional. They apply equally to small and large areas.
The key to identifying houses, and from there, determining locations, depends on correct identification of the front and back doors. With modern house design, however, it can sometimes be tricky trying to pinpoint exactly which is the front and which is the back door, especially since some buildings have as many as four doors, such as patio doors or doors leading from a sunroom.
In ancient times, properly-sited houses were backed by mountains and faced rivers. Modern Feng Shui masters substitute big buildings for mountains and roads for rivers - so that the direction for the house or building facing the main road is then regarded as the front of the house and the opposite side considered its back. Even if there is a main door on the side of the house facing onto a side street, that cannot always be regarded as the front of the house.
It is also believed that the front of the house is where most of the favourable Chi can concentrate. This is the side of the building that faces either a main road or a broad expanse of undeveloped land, such as a park, open space, a children's playground, or a pedestrian area. The side of your house facing such a space is considered the front of the house, and the back is then the opposite side.
In rare instances, where the house has an irregular or unusual shape (for example, L-shaped, cross or butterfly-shaped), the house is regarded as having no single front and back door. Each wing or arm of the building is considered to be an independent entity that has to be examined separately. Such houses are not considered auspicious, because they suffer from a lack of focus. Without there being a clearly defined front door, the house suffers, mainly because favourable Chi coming in is easily dispersed and thus lost to the house.
Finally, it is necessary to address the practical difficulties associated with the realities of rooms and floor plans. Clearly, it is not possible to limit your use of the house just to the good locations. One cannot place all the beds and all the doors of the house in the four good locations and site only toilets and storerooms in the bad locations. The entire exercise becomes even more complicated and impossible if there are equal members of the household belonging to both east and west groups. Somewhere, it is vital to compromise.
Compromise is best achieved by defining what it is that the family most desires. Is it wealth, health, family harmony, or a good marriage? Depending on the result, you can plan your position accordingly.
Not all rooms or doors have equal importance in Feng Shui. It is possible to rank structures and furnishings according to the influence they exert on one's fortune. However, for Feng Shui purposes, there are three things that must be sorted out satisfactorily, and they are the location and direction of the main doors (front and back), the bedrooms and the cooking stove. If there is a conflict of interest between the husband and the wife - because each belongs to a different group - then the main doors and the stove should be positioned to benefit the husband, the bedroom to benefit the wife.
By Lillian Too