Alexandra Alter

Vastu is a design principle you have to incorporate from the beginning,” he said. “According to the Vastu scriptures, if the house is oriented correctly, the person living in it is more in tune with the laws of nature.” It can be difficult to find the right plot of land, however, much less clients willing to subvert their own vision to the principles of Vastu. But Ramos found both when a mathematics professor at the University of Florida commissioned a Vastu house on a plot of land facing northeast, the most auspicious direction. The house’s northeastern exposure and it’s design maximize the effect of light and space, said Joe Glover, the house’s owner and a yoga practitioner who said he regards Vastu as “the extension of yoga into architecture.” But Vastu devotees like Glover can be a rare find among American consumers, who want a house to bend to their needs, not the other way around, Borden said.

“In the West, there are very few clients that are so committed to Vastu science that they’re willing to give up their personal idiosyncrasies.” he said. “In the ideal Vastu building, the inhabitants humbly live around the sacred centre. The house is a being. It’s a living entity with its own vibrating energy.” Meanwhile, designers like Cox have repackaged Vastu for a Western audience by emphasising its holistic approach and downplaying its prescriptive elements.

“Honour the location of the elements as best you can,” she said. “That doesn’t mean rip up your water pipes and put them in the northeast — that’s absurd. Use design principles that honour those locations, and that will set up a look to a room that will make us feel better.” — Beliefnet.com, concluded