As told by Bangalore Niranjan Babu
The apartment is a relatively modern phenomenon, and no classical text — neither the Mānasāra nor the Mayamata — addresses it directly. This absence has led many to conclude that Vāstu is irrelevant to apartment living. This conclusion is incorrect. The principles of directional alignment, elemental balance, and proportional harmony are universal; it is their application that must be adapted.
The fundamental difficulty with apartments is constraint. The occupant does not choose the orientation of the building, the position of the main entrance, or the placement of load-bearing walls. These decisions have already been made by others. The Vāstu practitioner working with apartments must therefore operate within fixed parameters — and this, counterintuitively, demands greater skill than working with a greenfield site.
What Can Be Influenced
The Viśvakarmā Prakāśana, while not addressing apartments per se, establishes the principle that the internal arrangement of a space matters as much as its external orientation. Within an apartment, the practitioner focuses on what I call the internal Vāstu: the placement of furniture, the positioning of the cooking area relative to the dining space, the direction of the sleeping position, the location of mirrors and water features, and — increasingly in modern life — the placement of electronic equipment and home offices.
The Brahmastāna principle applies even in a compact space. I advise clients to keep the central area of the apartment as unobstructed as possible — free of heavy furniture or storage. This allows the spatial energy to circulate naturally, reducing the sense of constriction that many apartment dwellers experience.
Selecting the Right Apartment
Where Vāstu has the most influence on apartment living is in the selection stage. Before purchasing or leasing, I counsel clients to evaluate the building's orientation, the floor level (higher floors receive more light and air, corresponding with the Vāyu element), the position of the apartment within the building (corner units with more external walls are generally preferable), and the direction of the main door of the unit itself.
I recall working with a family in New Jersey who had shortlisted three apartments. A brief assessment eliminated one unit — its main entrance faced the south-west, and the kitchen was positioned in the north-east, directly opposing the classical prescription. The family chose the unit I recommended and have resided there contentedly for over a decade. Such decisions are small in the moment but compounding in their effect.
My book Vastu: Relevance to Modern Times addresses these adaptations in detail, with practical guidance for apartments, hospitals, and modern urban developments.
See also: The Core Principles of Vāstu Śāstra