The Holistic House

'Music', as Johan Wolfgang von Goethe wrote 'is liquid architecture and architecture is frozen music', and just as music can elevate the soul, so can architecture. Is it possible to design a house that would nourish and promote the development of the inhabitants’ well-being and mindfulness? The architect-priests of ancient Egypt not only believed buildings should embody our social values and individual tastes but strived for them to have their own soul. They used this knowledge and wisdom to erect temples and public buildings, a knowledge that architect Jean-Marie Gobet develops and shares through his latest book (The Holistic House- The genesis of form). In over thirty chapters he considers the new (though very ancient) field of 'Geobiologie', and how it can be used to read relationships between topography and environment as expressed in Feng Shui and western tradition of Geomancy, sympathetic resonance, the critical importance of materials in constructing for well-being, sources of energy, water in the landscape and the garden as a space for healing.This book addresses all aspects of a healthy house design and construction, including:• Site reading and other aspects of choosing a healthy site, including its geological nature and orientation. Site reading according to Feng-Shui and the five elements.• Geomancy• Definition of Geobiology (Geobiologie)• Geopathic stress, effects on plants, animals and humans.• Geological nature of the ground and its influence on the health of the inhabitants.• The geomagnetic grid, the Hartman grid• Symbolism of the cardinal points in house design• Tellurian forces and cosmic forces.• Genius Loci, the spirit of the place• Site reading and other aspects of choosing a healthy site, including its geological nature and orientation. Site reading according to Feng-Shui and the five elements.• Phyllotaxis, Fibonacci series and the Golden Mean• Understanding topography and climate with Feng-Shui and the five elements.• Body and personality types according to the five elements• Chinese concordance table according to the five elements.• Measurement, proportions, the golden mean and sacred geometry.• Cymatics.• Choice of materials, non-toxic and in resonance with the site, the climate and the inhabitants.• Morpho psychology, designing for different personality types.• Healthy, non-toxic building materials• How to mitigate electromagnetic pollution• The importance of grounding, earthing techniques• Onsite water treatment for residential housing• Water revitalisation with flow forms.• Chromotherapy, the influence of finishes and colours.• Feng-Shui in garden design.• Garden as a sacred and healing space.• Magic squares, the Vedic square and Islamic design• Form fields (shape caused waves)• Radiesthesia and the art of dowsing.In more than forty years of experience in architecture, Jean-Marie Gobet has gleaned numerous techniques, facts and ideas relating to healthy building practices. They are listed in his book 'The Holistic House' in the form of a compendium to suggest solution for a habitat that is not only healthy but would also be an active contributing factor to one’s physical and spiritual wellbeing.