Why Some Towers Have a Hole in the Middle
In feng shui, a building is not just an object occupying a site; its shape and position can affect how qi, or vital energy, moves through a place. In some coastal Chinese settings, mountains are understood as the bodies of dragons, with the sea as their destination. A tower built across that imagined route can seem to obstruct it.
A large opening through a high-rise offers a symbolic passage. The design is sometimes called a “dragon gate”: the gap lets the mountain dragon continue toward the water rather than appearing trapped behind a solid wall of concrete and glass. This is a traditional interpretation, not a claim that a mythical creature physically travels through the building.
Belief Becomes a Design Constraint
The idea can influence real architectural decisions. A client, developer, or feng shui consultant may consider whether a tower blocks a mountain-to-sea line, then favor an opening or a different placement. The result has to work as a building, too: the gap changes the structure, the usable floor area, and the way apartments or offices are arranged around it.
That makes the opening more than a decorative flourish. It can embody a compromise between the demands of a dense city and a view of the landscape shaped by local tradition. For residents and passersby, the same void can read at once as a striking architectural feature and as a passage left open for the dragon’s journey.
