According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary (here), fengshui refers to the Chinese practice "in which a structure or site is chosen or configured so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it".
One might consider how to render fengshui in English. Some dictionaries suggest 'geomancy'. The trouble with this is that not many people know that word; and I am pretty sure that far more people know fengshui itself, as a borrowed word. So my suggestion is just to use it as a borrowed word.
Whether you believe in that stuff about harmonizing with spiritual forces or not, some buildings have awful fengshui. Have a look at this building, which residents of Brunei will recognise as being right in the middle of Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the capital of Brunei. It is hideous.
This building has been sitting there in its half-built, forlorn, dilapidated state for over ten years, and nobody seems to know what to do about it.Currently, there are all kinds of fancy plans for developing BSB into a thriving, modern city. But it seems to me that all these plans will come to nothing till someone sorts out the Ugly Building that is draining all the energy out of the place.
The damn thing really is ugly.
