Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist.
He also served as the second World President of Mensa International from 1974 to 1983. == Life and work == Fuller was born on July 12, 1895, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller and Caroline Wolcott Andrews, and grand-nephew of Margaret Fuller, an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement.
In his seventies, Fuller generally slept for 5–8 hours per night. Fuller documented his life copiously from 1915 to 1983, approximately of papers in a collection called the Dymaxion Chronofile.
In 1917, he married Anne Hewlett.
Fuller was elected as an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1967, on the occasion of the 50th year reunion of his Harvard class of 1917 (from which he was expelled in his first year).
During the early 1920s, he and his father-in-law developed the Stockade Building System for producing light-weight, weatherproof, and fireproof housing—although the company would ultimately fail in 1927. === Depression and epiphany === Buckminster Fuller recalled 1927 as a pivotal year of his life.
In the 1970s, Fuller was only in 'homely' locations (his personal home in Carbondale, Illinois; his holiday retreat in Bear Island, Maine; and his daughter's home in Pacific Palisades, California) roughly 65 nights per year—the other 300 nights were spent in hotel beds in the locations he visited on his lecturing and consulting circuits. In the 1920s, Fuller experimented with polyphasic sleep, which he called Dymaxion sleep.
Despite no longer personally partaking in the habit, in 1943 Fuller suggested Dymaxion sleep as a strategy that the United States could adopt to win World War II. Despite only practicing true polyphasic sleep for a period during the 1920s, Fuller was known for his stamina throughout his life.
His daughter Alexandra had died in 1922 of complications from polio and spinal meningitis just before her fourth birthday.
Although the geodesic dome had been created, built and awarded a German patent on June 19, 1925 by Dr.
The Dymaxion Experiment, 1926–1943; Volume Two.
During the early 1920s, he and his father-in-law developed the Stockade Building System for producing light-weight, weatherproof, and fireproof housing—although the company would ultimately fail in 1927. === Depression and epiphany === Buckminster Fuller recalled 1927 as a pivotal year of his life.
This provided motivation for Fuller's involvement in Stockade Building Systems, a business which aimed to provide affordable, efficient housing. In 1927, at age 32, Fuller lost his job as president of Stockade.
The Fuller family had no savings, and the birth of their daughter Allegra in 1927 added to the financial challenges.
During the autumn of 1927, Fuller contemplated suicide by drowning in Lake Michigan, so that his family could benefit from a life insurance payment. Fuller said that he had experienced a profound incident which would provide direction and purpose for his life.
Historians have been unable to identify direct evidence for this experience within the 1927 papers of Fuller's Chronofile archives, housed at Stanford University.
Stanford historian Barry Katz suggests that the suicide story may be a myth which Fuller constructed later in life, to summarize this formative period of his career. === Recovery === In 1927 Fuller resolved to think independently which included a commitment to "the search for the principles governing the universe and help advance the evolution of humanity in accordance with them ...
Previously, he had experimented with unconventional clothing immediately after his 1927 epiphany, but found that breaking social fashion customs made others devalue or dismiss his ideas.
Dymaxion Deployment, 1927–1946; Volume Three.
By 1928, Fuller was living in Greenwich Village and spending much of his time at the popular café Romany Marie's, where he had spent an evening in conversation with Marie and Eugene O'Neill several years earlier.
Isamu Noguchi arrived during 1929—Constantin Brâncuși, an old friend of Marie's, had directed him there—and Noguchi and Fuller were soon collaborating on several projects, including the modeling of the Dymaxion car based on recent work by Aurel Persu.
It was invented around 1929 by two admen at Marshall Field's department store in Chicago to describe Fuller's concept house, which was shown as part of a house of the future store display.
The Fuller Dome is referenced in the Hugo Award-winning novel Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner, in which a geodesic dome is said to cover the entire island of Manhattan, and it floats on air due to the hot-air balloon effect of the large air-mass under the dome (and perhaps its construction of lightweight materials). === Transportation === The Dymaxion car was a vehicle designed by Fuller, featured prominently at Chicago's 1933-1934 Century of Progress World's Fair.
Despite no longer personally partaking in the habit, in 1943 Fuller suggested Dymaxion sleep as a strategy that the United States could adopt to win World War II. Despite only practicing true polyphasic sleep for a period during the 1920s, Fuller was known for his stamina throughout his life.
Although Fuller undoubtedly popularized this type of structure he is mistakenly given credit for its design. One of his early models was first constructed in 1945 at Bennington College in Vermont, where he lectured often.
The Geodesic Revolution, Part 1, 1947–1959; Volume Four.
It was the beginning of their lifelong friendship. === Geodesic domes === Fuller taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the summers of 1948 and 1949, serving as its Summer Institute director in 1949.
It was the beginning of their lifelong friendship. === Geodesic domes === Fuller taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the summers of 1948 and 1949, serving as its Summer Institute director in 1949.
Although Bauersfeild's dome could support a full skin of concrete it was not until 1949 that Fuller erected a geodesic dome building that could sustain its own weight with no practical limits.
Fuller lectured at North Carolina State University in Raleigh in 1949, where he met James Fitzgibbon, who would become a close friend and colleague.
Fuller financed some of his experiments with inherited funds, sometimes augmented by funds invested by his collaborators, one example being the Dymaxion car project. === World stage === International recognition began with the success of huge geodesic domes during the 1950s.
In the 1950s, Fuller attended seminars and workshops organized by the Institute of General Semantics, and he delivered the annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in 1955.
Richard Lewontin, a new faculty member in population genetics at North Carolina State University, provided Fuller with computer calculations for the lengths of the domes' edges. Fuller began working with architect Shoji Sadao in 1954, and in 1964 they co-founded the architectural firm Fuller & Sadao Inc., whose first project was to design the large geodesic dome for the U.S.
2,682,235; awarded in 1954) is the same design as Bauersfeld's. Their construction is based on extending some basic principles to build simple "tensegrity" structures (tetrahedron, octahedron, and the closest packing of spheres), making them lightweight and stable.
In the 1950s, Fuller attended seminars and workshops organized by the Institute of General Semantics, and he delivered the annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in 1955.
Within a few years, there were thousands of such domes around the world. Fuller's first "continuous tension – discontinuous compression" geodesic dome (full sphere in this case) was constructed at the University of Oregon Architecture School in 1959 with the help of students.
This building is now the "Montreal Biosphère". In 1962, the artist and searcher John McHale wrote the first monograph on Fuller, published by George Braziller in New York. After employing several Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate students to rebuild his models following an apartment fire in the summer of 1959, Fuller was recruited by longtime friend Harold Cohen to serve as a research professor of "design science exploration" at the institution's School of Art and Design.
In 1960, he was awarded the Frank P.
This was designed to show Earth's continents with minimum distortion when projected or printed on a flat surface. In the 1960s, Fuller developed the World Game, a collaborative simulation game played on a 70-by-35-foot Dymaxion map, in which players attempt to solve world problems.
Fuller's hearing was damaged during his Naval service in World War I and deteriorated during the 1960s.
Blue blazer, Khrushchev trousers, and a briefcase full of Japanese-made wonderments; ... == Quirks == Following his global prominence from the 1960s onward, Fuller became a frequent flier, often crossing time zones to lecture.
In the 1960s and 1970s, he wore three watches simultaneously; one for the time zone of his office at Southern Illinois University, one for the time zone of the location he would next visit, and one for the time zone he was currently in.
The Geodesic Revolution, Part 2, 1960–1983: Edited with descriptions by James Ward.
This building is now the "Montreal Biosphère". In 1962, the artist and searcher John McHale wrote the first monograph on Fuller, published by George Braziller in New York. After employing several Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate students to rebuild his models following an apartment fire in the summer of 1959, Fuller was recruited by longtime friend Harold Cohen to serve as a research professor of "design science exploration" at the institution's School of Art and Design.
Richard Lewontin, a new faculty member in population genetics at North Carolina State University, provided Fuller with computer calculations for the lengths of the domes' edges. Fuller began working with architect Shoji Sadao in 1954, and in 1964 they co-founded the architectural firm Fuller & Sadao Inc., whose first project was to design the large geodesic dome for the U.S.
The stamp's design replicated the January 10, 1964 cover of Time Magazine. Fuller was the subject of two documentary films: The World of Buckminster Fuller (1971) and Thinking Out Loud (1996).
In 1965, they inaugurated the World Design Science Decade (1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in Fuller's own words, devoted to "applying the principles of science to solving the problems of humanity." From 1972 until retiring as university professor emeritus in 1975, Fuller held a joint appointment at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he had designed the dome for the campus Religious Center in 1971.
With self-deprecating humor, Fuller described this black-suited appearance as resembling a "second-rate bank clerk". Writer Guy Davenport met him in 1965 and described him thus: He's a dwarf, with a worker's hands, all callouses and squared fingers.
He carries an ear trumpet, of green plastic, with WORLD SERIES 1965 printed on it.
Fuller was elected as an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1967, on the occasion of the 50th year reunion of his Harvard class of 1917 (from which he was expelled in his first year).
Due to publicity, there were many orders during the early Post-War years, but the company that Fuller and others had formed to produce the houses failed due to management problems. In 1967, Fuller developed a concept for an offshore floating city named Triton City and published a report on the design the following year.
Nevertheless, his time in Carbondale was "extremely productive," and Fuller was promoted to university professor in 1968 and distinguished university professor in 1972. Working as a designer, scientist, developer, and writer, he continued to lecture for many years around the world.
He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1968.
In 1968, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1970.
For his lifetime of work, the American Humanist Association named him the 1969 Humanist of the Year. In 1976, Fuller was a key participant at UN Habitat I, the first UN forum on human settlements. === Honors === Fuller was awarded 28 United States patents and many honorary doctorates.
Johnson who, after leaving office, had them placed in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. In 1969, Fuller began the Otisco Project, named after its location in Otisco, New York.
In 1968, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1970.
In 1970, he received the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
Defining wealth in terms of knowledge, as the "technological ability to protect, nurture, support, and accommodate all growth needs of life," his analysis of the condition of "Spaceship Earth" caused him to conclude that at a certain time during the 1970s, humanity had attained an unprecedented state.
The two shared a remarkable amount of similarity in their formulations of general semantics. In his 1970 book I Seem To Be a Verb, he wrote: "I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am.
After experimenting with bullhorns as hearing aids during the mid-1960s, Fuller adopted electronic hearing aids from the 1970s onward. In public appearances, Fuller always wore dark-colored suits, appearing like "an alert little clergyman".
In the 1960s and 1970s, he wore three watches simultaneously; one for the time zone of his office at Southern Illinois University, one for the time zone of the location he would next visit, and one for the time zone he was currently in.
In the 1970s, Fuller was only in 'homely' locations (his personal home in Carbondale, Illinois; his holiday retreat in Bear Island, Maine; and his daughter's home in Pacific Palisades, California) roughly 65 nights per year—the other 300 nights were spent in hotel beds in the locations he visited on his lecturing and consulting circuits. In the 1920s, Fuller experimented with polyphasic sleep, which he called Dymaxion sleep.
He was described as "tireless" by Barry Farrell in Life magazine, who noted that Fuller stayed up all night replying to mail during Farrell's 1970 trip to Bear Island.
In 1965, they inaugurated the World Design Science Decade (1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in Fuller's own words, devoted to "applying the principles of science to solving the problems of humanity." From 1972 until retiring as university professor emeritus in 1975, Fuller held a joint appointment at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he had designed the dome for the campus Religious Center in 1971.
Nevertheless, his time in Carbondale was "extremely productive," and Fuller was promoted to university professor in 1968 and distinguished university professor in 1972. Working as a designer, scientist, developer, and writer, he continued to lecture for many years around the world.
In 1965, they inaugurated the World Design Science Decade (1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in Fuller's own words, devoted to "applying the principles of science to solving the problems of humanity." From 1972 until retiring as university professor emeritus in 1975, Fuller held a joint appointment at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he had designed the dome for the campus Religious Center in 1971.
Killian, Jr.) I Seem to Be a Verb (1970) coauthors Jerome Agel, Quentin Fiore, Intuition (1970) Buckminster Fuller to Children of Earth (1972) compiled and photographed by Cam Smith, The Buckminster Fuller Reader (1972) editor James Meller, The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller (1960, 1973) coauthor Robert Marks, Earth, Inc (1973) Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking (1975) in collaboration with E.J.
He also served as the second World President of Mensa International from 1974 to 1983. == Life and work == Fuller was born on July 12, 1895, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller and Caroline Wolcott Andrews, and grand-nephew of Margaret Fuller, an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement.
In 1965, they inaugurated the World Design Science Decade (1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in Fuller's own words, devoted to "applying the principles of science to solving the problems of humanity." From 1972 until retiring as university professor emeritus in 1975, Fuller held a joint appointment at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he had designed the dome for the campus Religious Center in 1971.
During this period, he also held a joint fellowship at a consortium of Philadelphia-area institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, Swarthmore College and the University City Science Center; as a result of this affiliation, the University of Pennsylvania appointed him university professor emeritus in 1975. Fuller believed human societies would soon rely mainly on renewable sources of energy, such as solar- and wind-derived electricity.
For his lifetime of work, the American Humanist Association named him the 1969 Humanist of the Year. In 1976, Fuller was a key participant at UN Habitat I, the first UN forum on human settlements. === Honors === Fuller was awarded 28 United States patents and many honorary doctorates.
In 1976, he received the St.
In 1977, Fuller received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist.
He also served as the second World President of Mensa International from 1974 to 1983. == Life and work == Fuller was born on July 12, 1895, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller and Caroline Wolcott Andrews, and grand-nephew of Margaret Fuller, an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement.
He also received numerous other awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him on February 23, 1983, by President Ronald Reagan. === Last filmed appearance === Fuller's last filmed interview took place on June 21, 1983, in which he spoke at Norman Foster's Royal Gold Medal for architecture ceremony.
I am also a living case history of a thoroughly documented, half-century, search-and-research project designed to discover what, if anything, an unknown, moneyless individual, with a dependent wife and newborn child, might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity that could not be accomplished by great nations, great religions or private enterprise, no matter how rich or powerfully armed. Fuller died on July 1, 1983, 11 days before his 88th birthday.
In his seventies, Fuller generally slept for 5–8 hours per night. Fuller documented his life copiously from 1915 to 1983, approximately of papers in a collection called the Dymaxion Chronofile.
Buckminster Fuller Buckminster Fuller Institute Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – February 23, 1983 Buckminster Fuller, a portrait by Ansel Adams Articles about Fuller 'Bucky' Gets Lucky with Stamp by Danit Lidor, Wired (July 12, 2004) Dymaxion Man: The Visions of Buckminster Fuller by Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker (June 9, 2008) The Love Song of R.
The 1996 Nobel prize in chemistry was given to Kroto, Curl, and Smalley for their discovery of the fullerene. He is quoted in the lyric of "The Tower of Babble" in the musical Godspell: "Man is a complex of patterns and processes." The indie band Driftless Pony Club named their 2011 album, Buckminster, after him.
All the songs within the album are based upon his life and works. On July 12, 2004, the United States Post Office released a new commemorative stamp honoring R.
Buckminster Fuller Buckminster Fuller Institute Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – February 23, 1983 Buckminster Fuller, a portrait by Ansel Adams Articles about Fuller 'Bucky' Gets Lucky with Stamp by Danit Lidor, Wired (July 12, 2004) Dymaxion Man: The Visions of Buckminster Fuller by Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker (June 9, 2008) The Love Song of R.
Buckminster Fuller. In June 2008, the Whitney Museum of American Art presented "Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe", the most comprehensive retrospective to date of his work and ideas.
Buckminster Fuller Buckminster Fuller Institute Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – February 23, 1983 Buckminster Fuller, a portrait by Ansel Adams Articles about Fuller 'Bucky' Gets Lucky with Stamp by Danit Lidor, Wired (July 12, 2004) Dymaxion Man: The Visions of Buckminster Fuller by Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker (June 9, 2008) The Love Song of R.
Buckminster Fuller New York Times article questioning Fuller's supposed consideration of suicide, (June 15, 2008) Collections Buckminster Fuller Digital Collection at Stanford includes 380 hrs.
The exhibition traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago in 2009.
It also featured the extensive connections with Chicago from his years spent living, teaching, and working in the city. In 2009, a number of US companies decided to repackage spherical magnets and sell them as toys.
The 1996 Nobel prize in chemistry was given to Kroto, Curl, and Smalley for their discovery of the fullerene. He is quoted in the lyric of "The Tower of Babble" in the musical Godspell: "Man is a complex of patterns and processes." The indie band Driftless Pony Club named their 2011 album, Buckminster, after him.
Additionally, filmmaker Sam Green and the band Yo La Tengo collaborated on a 2012 "live documentary" about Fuller, The Love Song of R.
Buckminster Fuller, a 2012 live documentary by filmmaker Sam Green Other resources CJ Fearnley's List of Buckminster Fuller Resources on the Internet Buckminster Fuller at Pionniers & Précurseurs.
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