The design precedent and its topographical representaion in ecological design

This paper has introduced the theory of precedents and method of representations into an topographical investigation of ecological potentials in Chinese Fengshui.. Firstly, it has briefly reviewed the theory of precedents and method of representations. Then it has started from these methods to transit an important design precedent: `Fengshui´, into topographical representation as one case to investigate how topographical constraints are combined within ecological potentials. Through the topographical investigation on a few popular Fenghsui patterns, it has observed and identified a few common characteristics in these patterns. The ecological potentials are summarized in an general model by quality and also a general equation by quantity for further research.