“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 house design and construction, including:

• Site reading and other aspects of choosing a healthy site, including its geological nature and orientation.

• Measurement, proportions and sacred geometry.

• Choice of materials, non-toxic and in resonance with the site, the climate and the inhabitants.

• Designing for different personality types.

• The influence of finishes and colours.

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.