Integration of Tellurism and Sacred Geometry in Professional Training: Innovation, Healthy Architecture, and Landscape

Introduction

It is unusual to talk about Tellurism in Schools of Architecture, even more so in relation to the design of interior space in a dwelling. However, the location and surrounding landscape of a dwelling are key in order to achieve the ideal home.

Although, for the architect the foundation is the building's base, he or she has not always taken into consideration whether the foundation has been built on land contaminated by energy that will impact the inhabitant's health. In architecture, tectonics is the great forgotten, as is archaeology, which provides the basis to work utilizing the perspective of history and ways of living.

At present, the implementation of the concepts of Tellurism and Sacred Geometry in the Schools of Architecture is neither obvious nor simple. It starts with the historical heritage of patterns that are shaped and molded according to professorships that have worked independently in territories at different scales within building and urbanism. Moreover, they share the same premise of the occupation of space and creation. However, town planning addresses the external context and architecture deals with the interior and the exterior according to what is most precious to the architect such as the facade, the building's appearance and its expression in the city. On the other hand, interior architects have established a career almost devoid of any appreciation of exterior spaces.

This study focuses on the intrinsic value of the land, its energy and how this affects, not only the overall design of the building, but the healthy interior of a dwelling as well. The research also includes a case study that investigates the concept of Sacred Geometry and how it can transform a house into a home as well as its possible effect on health and its relationship with the landscape. It is illogical to address the interior without taking into account the exterior too. Luminary and chromatic perception, as well as identifying the horizon line of urban or natural landscape, have a direct effect on the inhabitant's feelings.

Reflecting on the need to call a house a home is a starting point for this study. There are times when a person likes a house but cannot explain why. That house surely contains noble materials, such as the wood used in its carpentry, its latticework, the coffering, the floors and finishes, but what is clear is that it constitutes a home, which, in turn, implies warmth like the hearth as a place to gather in order to keep warm. Without wood there is no fire, without wood there is no hearth or home. Water, fire and air are vital elements in a home, as is the geometry applied to house them. Oriental feng shui works on the understanding of plans and the distribution of space inside the house in order to optimize well-being. It is, however, unthinkable to contemplate this concept in the West.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the need to publicize the concepts of tellurism and Sacred Geometry in an architect's training and thus raise the designer’s awareness of the positive consequences of the inhabitants’ health. Presenting guidelines on concepts unknown in the West, such as feng shui, may even appear to be obvious for design optimization. A secondary objective proposes architecture as a service to the people and must include empathy when dealing with inhabitants. The psychological, psychosomatic and symptomatic effects on the human being are related to the intrinsic use of a dwelling, as well as to the building's placement on the land. Developing a living space is very different in an apartment than in a house with a garden. Looking through a window at an urban landscape has more limitations than looking out of a balcony and seeing a natural landscape. The location of the horizon line plays an important role in visuospatial optometry.