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Buckminster Fuller. “A Man Before His Time”. July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983. Who was he?. Inventor Architect Engineer Mathematician Poet Cosmologist. He was an inventor…. Fuller was a practical philosopher who demonstrate his ideas as inventions that he called “artifacts.”.
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Buckminster Fuller “A Man Before His Time” July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983
Who was he? • Inventor • Architect • Engineer • Mathematician • Poet • Cosmologist
He was an inventor… • Fuller was a practical philosopher who demonstrate his ideas as inventions that he called “artifacts.”
He was a genius… He was a dogged individualist whose genius was felt throughout the world for nearly half a century. Even Albert Einstein was prompted to say to him, “Young man, you amaze me!”
R. Buckminster Fuller spent much of the early 20th Century looking for ways to improve human shelter by: He was a humanitarian… • Applying modern technological know-how to shelter construction. • Making shelter more comfortable and efficient. • Making shelter more economically available to a greater number of people.
He was a visionary…. • Fuller was one of the earliest proponents of renewable energy sources–solar (including wind and wave)–which he incorporated into his designs. He claimed, "there is no energy crisis, only a crisis of ignorance." His research demonstrated that humanity could satisfy 100% of its energy needs while phasing out fossil fuels and atomic energy. For example, he showed that a wind generator fitted to every high-voltage transmission tower in the U.S. would generate three-and-a-half times the country’s total recent power output.
He was an achiever… • was awarded 28 U.S. patents • authored 28 books • received 47 honorary doctorates in the arts, science, engineering and the humanities • received dozens of major architectural and design awards including, among many others, the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects and the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects • created work which found itself into the permanent collections of museums around the world • circled the globe 57 times, reaching millions through his public lectures and interviews
Fuller's 56 – year Experiment In 1927, at the age of 32, Buckminster Fuller stood on the shores of Lake Michigan, prepared to throw himself into the freezing waters. His first child had died. He was bankrupt, discredited and jobless, and he had a wife and new-born daughter. On the verge of suicide, it suddenly struck him that his life belonged, not to himself, but to the universe. He chose at that moment to embark on what he called “an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity.”
Geodesic Domes Buckminster Fuller is best known for the invention of the geodesic dome– the lightest, strongest, and most cost-effective structure ever devised. The geodesic dome is able to cover more space without internal supports than any other enclosure.
Dome Advantages It becomes proportionally lighter and stronger the larger it is. The geodesic dome is a breakthrough in shelter, not only in cost-effectiveness, but in ease of construction.
The Dymaxion House Conceived in the late 1920's but not actually built until 1945, the Dymaxion House was Fuller's solution to the need for a mass-produced, affordable, easily transportable and environmentally efficient house. The word "Dymaxion" was coined by combining parts of three of Bucky's favorite words: DY (dynamic), MAX (maximum), and ION (tension). The house used tension suspension from a central column or mast, sold for the price of a Cadillac, and could be shipped worldwide in its own metal tube.
The Dymaxion House • Fuller adopted the round shape to minimize heat loss and the amount of materials needed, while bestowing the strength to successfully fend off a 1964 tornado that missed by only a few hundred yards. And the Dymaxion only weighed about 3000 pounds versus the 150 tons of an average home!It was made of permanent, engineered materials that required no periodic painting, reroofing, or other maintenance.
