ALIGN BY DESIGN; BUSINESSES USE FENG SHUI TO ARRANGE NATURAL FORCES INTO COMPETITIVE EDGE.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

The producers were worried that the sitcom pilot they were about to shoot at a Burbank studio was doomed. Not because the script was bad or the actors didn't know their lines.

No, they were worried the show was doomed because the studio was jinxed.

``They told me that all the pilots that had been filmed there had never been picked up,'' said P.K. Odle. ``They wanted to do everything they possibly could to change the luck.''

Faced with that dismal track record, the producers hired Odle to perform feng shui, an ancient Chinese art that detractors call superstition but supporters call science.

Odle said her recommendations included putting ``water'' elements in the back and ``mountain'' elements in the front of the studio. She said the show responded by placing stones on pallets in front of the building and parking a water truck out back.

The show's producers - whom Odle wouldn't identify - will have to wait until the fall television season to see if their effort pays off.

But their attempt puts them solidly among the growing ranks of business people who have turned to feng shui (pronounced FUNG SHWAY) - an ancient Chinese tradition rooted in natural forces - to boost their bottom line.

While the art has several different schools, its basic premise is that the environment affects things such as health, prosperity and relationships. Feng shui, which is used extensively in Asia, involves what supporters say is the scientific design or selection of environments to maximize natural positive energy.

Feng shui has long been used in Southland homes, but practitioners say it is making inroads in the business world as companies search for ways to increase efficiency.

``More consciousness is coming into the workplace, and people are realizing there are more things influencing them than meets the eye,'' said Odle, a proponent of the Compass school who also teaches at the American Feng Shui Institute in Monterey Park.

``More businesses feel comfortable having this done,'' she said.

Laura Errico, president of Errico Design Associates in Santa Monica, said about 10 percent of her commercial clients use feng shui, a proportion that has increased dramatically in the last couple years.

And Errico said that has not bothered her at all.

``I think (feng shui) follows principles that open up an office or a home, and it provides usually good common-sense principles to design,'' she said.

Spread mostly through word of mouth, feng shui has moved beyond its old bulwark of businesses owned by Asians or Asian-Americans in recent years.

Many say the art has brought concrete results.

``We have had huge improvements in the business since we brought feng shui in,'' said Jennifer Harvey, owner of Australian Living in Woodland Hills. ``People come in here, and they feel positive.''

Harvey attributes her improved business and personal life to the work of Santa Clarita-based feng shui consultant Patti Robbins-Vignal.

Vignal, an adherent of the art's Black Hat school, said her work is centered around helping positive energy flow through the workplace.

At a recent visit to Capital Office Products in San Fernando, Robbins-Vignal gave business owner Carolyn Nelson advice on everything from lighting to telephones.

Her suggestions included: eliminating clutter, removing pictures of family members, bringing in more colorful pictures and placing plants in certain corners.

But the visit also dealt with the unseen.

In the company's upstairs loft, Robbins-Vignal hung a length of red string to make a ``wall'' across an unsafe area; in a closet buzzing with electrical equipment, she suggested a mirror to deflect harmful energy.

Nelson said she brought feng shui to her business after having it done at home.

``I just felt it couldn't do any harm,'' Nelson said.

But Nelson said she does not advertise her use of the ancient practice.

``It's not something I'm going to go out and tell everyone,'' she said, ``because I'm going to be judged for it.''

That fear is common among business people who have turned to feng shui, Robbins-Vignal said.

``They have lots of employees, and some may not understand,'' she said. ``People who are very, very religious misinterpret this to be a religious action when it's really a scientific one.''

Odle, the instructor with the American Feng Shui Institute, said larger, successful businesses are especially secretive.

``Most don't want it widely known that they're using something other than their good business practice,'' Odle said.

But some designers say there is nothing embarrassing about the ancient art form.

The advice of feng shui consultants usually complements or confirms her own interior design work, Errico said.

``I think the goals are the same: really good space that functions for the person and makes them feel good in working in the space,'' she said. ``We haven't been in conflict with that at all.''

Feng shui-inspired changes - while not scientific in the classic sense - often make a major difference for employers and employees, said Jenny Liu, owner of New Feng Shui Concepts in Alhambra.

For example, Liu said she recently changed the floor plan for a business client so that workers at their desks would have solid walls - not open, active spaces - behind them.

Before the change, she said, workers were distracted.

``People have a sense of not knowing what's going on behind them, and this will lower their focus and mental clarity,'' she said. ``It influences how they work.''

THE WAY TO SHUI

Although feng shui needs are different for every individual business, and often differ between schools, Black Hat consultant Patti Robbins-Vignal offered the following general tips:

Clutter is the cancer of feng shui. Keep offices and desks neat.

Keep toilet seats down and bathroom doors shut to prevent wealth from flushing away.

Living things, or representations of living things, are vital. Dried flowers and other dead things hurt a business's feng shui.

If you have a fish tank, fill it with eight gold fish and one black. The black fish will absorb the negative energy.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) Capital Office Products owners Carolyn, left, and Richard Nelson listen as feng shui adviser Patti Robbins-Vignal offers some pointers.

(2--Color) Patti Robbins-Vignal places an ancient Tibetan cure underneath a telephone to improve the office's environment.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box: THE WAY TO SHUI (See text)