Accusations of bad Feng Shui in a Zaha Hadid-designed building in China have caused a stir, with one company receiving a $30,000 fine.
A Chinese media outlet allegedly published a blog post criticising Wangjing SOHO, a trio of towers in Beijing. Written by a Feng Shui expert, the (now-deleted) post claimed that the development had a bad energy that caused the downfall of several companies that had worked in the space.
Specifically, the post claimed the building looked like “pig kidneys” and was poorly located to collect good energy. It also warned companies against establishing offices in the space, referring to a number of promising tech start-ups that gone out of business, supposedly due to the building’s bad Feng Shui.
Developer SOHO China has successfully sued media company Zhuhai Shengun Internet Technology for $30,000 for spreading misinformation and causing loss of revenue, with the building currently generating more than AU$94 million in rent per year.
The court’s decision to penalise the media company reflects president Xi Jinping’s efforts to more closely control independent media and restrict the spread of misinformation and superstitious views online.
Online, some Chinese residents have criticised the developer’s decision to sue a small independent media company, while others have questioned whether Feng Shui should still have such a strong influence on the real estate market.
Photography by Jerry Yin
