sign in sign up
<<
Home , Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path (book), Dymaxion car, Dymaxion map, Ephemeralization, Gold Dome

A Trfbute to R. Budmdssater Fssller— Inventor, Philosopher

!. Number44 November 2,1981

I first met at my located in the University City Science apartment about three years ago. He Center. and his wife then lived in the same Fuller was born in Milton, Massachu- building I do. An ISP colleague, Beta setts, on July 12, 1895, the second of Starchild, told me that Fuller needed a four children, His mother was Caroline new office. The University of Pennsyl- Wolcott Fuller, and his father Richard vania could no longer provide space for Buckminster Fuller, Sr. The Ft.dfer his staff. Since we were plaming our family is known for strong wills and new buifding at the time, Beta suggested resoluteness. Among Bucky’s ancestors that Bucky could use space on the were many ministers, lawyers, and fourth floor of our building. A meeting military leaders. His father was a Boston was arranged to discuss this and to get merchant importer. He was the first better acquainted. We had previously FuUer in several generations who did been introduced at a press conference not enter law or the ministry. announcing the new building. I remem- One of Bucky’s more notable relatives ber my first impression of Bucky. He was his great-aunt , a lit- seemed like an elf: small, quiet, and fre- erary critic, edhor, and feminist. She quently smiling. A few of us later dined was a friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, at a local French restaurant. Bucky re- and first encouraged him to publish his mained quiet unless specifically ques- work. She is also credited with discover- tioned. ing Thoreau. 1 After a brief negotiation, he and his When I first met Fuller he told me staff moved into our building. It is a that he was born hyperopic, or far- pleasure for me to tell visitors that such sighted, but h~ eyes were not corrected a distinguished scholar has hk profes- with glasses until he was four years old. sional residence here. I only wish that Until then, he says, he had never seen he stayed around more often. He travels the details of objects—only their out- more than I do and, alas, recently lines and general shapes. He contends moved his home to Caliiormia. that this early view of life is responsible Richard Buckminster Fuller, or for his still unusual outlook on the Bucky, as he prefers to be cafled, has world. Throughout his life, he has re- long been known as the inventor of the tained a penchant for concentrating on geodesic , the , and the large shapes around him rather than the concept of “spaceship earth. ” Since the details. But I’m sure that Bucky 1972, he has held the position of World knows that hyperopia is not a universal Fellow in Residence at the University prescription for such a unique weltan- City Science Center. The position is schauung. now largely honorary, but Bucky con- FuUer’s Me has been every bit as tinues to keep his office at 1S1, which is unusual as his outlook on it. Although

296 My meeting with Buckminster Fuller, during the pre~ conference announcing the new ISI building in the University City Science Center, July 19, 1978. Also shown is Randall M. Whaley, president of the Science Center. he attended Harvard twice, and has 47 tect, inventor, mathematician, poet, honorary degrees, he never graduated writer, builder, philosopher, and scien- from college. He has held a number of tist. He has done a wide variety of things diverse jobs, from an apprentice ma- to earn such titles-invented, designed, chme-fitter in a cotton mill to a cashier. and built new types of buildings (con- During World War I, he served in the sidered by at least one author as art- Navy as commander of a crash boat work4), , cars, and chairs; created flotilk. With his fatherin-law, James his own system of geometry (with Monroe Hewlett, Bucky founded the models that biological structures were Stockade Building System in 1922. later discovered to follow); coined Their company manufactured a special numerous terms; written poems; devel- kind of building block. It was later sold oped water recycling systems; and in- to the Celotex Company. 1From 1930 to spired untold numbers of people with 1932 he edited and published Shelter lofty, long-range visions. magazine,z an architectural periodical. Bucky says that the real Buckminster Since the age of 33, however, he has not Fuller came into being in 1927, about worked in the conventional sense at all. ten years after his marriage to Anne He is continually inventing things, and Hewlett on July 12, 1917. When their currently has 22 patents (and three more first daughter, Alexandra, died in 1922, applications) to hk credit. He is the Bucky entered a major crisis period in author of 20 books and more than 60 ar- his life. Five years later, Bucky’s father- ticles. He has been called both a genius in-law sold the building business they and a crackpot.3 He also experienced had founded, due to financial failures. numerous financial failures. Bucky had never had much success as a Depending upon one’s outlook, Ful- businessman, and the new owners fired ler has been considered an artist, archi- hn from his position in the company.

297 The crisis cuhniiated for Bucky with terials needed to build it been feasible the birth of his second daughter, then, the house could have retailed for Allegra, the same year. 1 about $1, 50¬ bad even for those Convinced that he was a failure, days. The term Dymaxion, wh~ch Bucky Bucky briefly considered suicide. He has adopted as his personal trademark, decided, however, that his life’s exper- was originally coined expressly for this ience was not his to destroy and that he house when it was displayed at the Mar- was only a failure as long as he kept try- shall Field department store in Chicago. ing to earn a living according to The term, a combination of “dyna- society’s rules. It was time to be honest mism,” “maximum,” and “ions,” is now with himseff and work according to his defined by Bucky as “the most-advan- OWII rules. And the rules he set for him- tage-from-the-least technology.”b self were simple: he would dedicate Unfortunately, the , himself to improving the condi- like many of Bucky’s inventions, was tion in any way he could. He was then ahead of its time. The idea of a house 32 years old. Today, 54 years later, hung from a pole was quite unlike any- F,tdler continues to pursue this goal. 1 thing else designed at the time, and the One of the first things Bucky did after materials needed to build it were un- making his crucial decision was to stop dreamed of in 1927. In The Dymaxion talking for almost two years. He World of Buckminster Fuller, a work he wanted, he says, to break hhnself of the wrote with Robert Marks, he explains habit of talkiig by rote. He intended, that the American Institute of Archi- instead, to be sure that he meant exactly tects so disliked his house that they every word he said. In a recent inter- passed a resolution concerning it: “Be it view, writer John Love described how resolved that the American Institute of Fuller was affected by these two years: Archhects establish itself on record as “He emerged from this period of monk- inherently opposed to any peas-in-a-pod ish silence a changed man. He set about reproducible designs. ”1 The Dymaxion to discover nothing less than the operat- house, due to its advanced ideas, was ing principles of the universe, and then the fwst of many inventions that earned to apply them to designs for new kinds Bucky the name “crackpot.” of shelter and other Me-enhancing in- The Dymaxion house, shown in Fig- ventions. ‘I decided to invest my lie this ure 1, was never built except as a table way,’ Bucky says. ”i model. But Bucky continued to invent. This process of discovering the grand In 1930 he produced the Dymaxion scheme of things has led Bucky along bathroom-an offshoot of his Dymax- numerous paths. He decided at age four ion house. The Dymaxion bathroom that the triangle was the basis of much was composed of four pieces of sheet in the universe, and many of his designs metal stamped out in a factory. When have evolved from that principle. One fitted together (a process which only of the first was his “4D” or “Dymaxion” took a few minutes), they made a com- house-a complete family dwelling plete single surface form that contained hung around a central pole. Mass-pr* a shower/tub, a toilet, and a sink. The ducible, it could be dropped in place by toilet used a special chemical system a dirigible, and moved at whim. The rather than water, and the atomizer house was completely automated: re- shower ran for ten minutes on a quart of frigerators and cupboards opened at the water, Bucky’s idea was to create a interruption of a light beam; clothes bathroom that could be easily moved were washed, pressed, and stored aut~ and installed-just like a refrigerator or matically; and the house was kept dust- a stove. Although about a dozen of the free by its air circulation system. Water bathrooms were built and installed,. the was recycled. And this, I should point manufacturer, Phelps-Dodge Corpora- out, was designed in 1927! Had the ma- tion, soon stopped production. One of

298 Phelps-Dodge’s largest customers, the scene before the press arrived. The ac- Standard Sanitary Company, apparently cident was consequently blamed on was afraid that plumbers’ unions would Bucky’s car. I react unfavorably to the Dymaxion Another well-known Fuller invention bathroom. Such a reaction would have at this time was the , a had a serious effect on both companies’ flat projection that shows the entire business. ~ world on one surface with negligible In addition to hk house and bath- distortions. The map has enjoyed room, Bucky designed a popularity, although, according to that could seat ten people. Built in the Bucky’s staff, it has not been an enor- shape of a teardrop, the car could reach mous financial success. Various ver- a speed of 120 miles an hour, and was sions of the map can be ordered highly maneuverable. It could, for ex- from Dymaxion Artifacts, 3501 Mar- ample, rotate in a circle around its front ket Street, University City Science wheels. The car is shown in Figures 2 Center, , Pennsylvania and 3. Three Dymaxion cars were actu- 19104. Prices range from $1.00 to’ ally built and received favorable atten- $15.(M. tion from the public. Unfortunately, Working with the Butler Manufactur- when the second of the cars was in- ing Company, Bucky also designed the volved in a fatal accident (the Dymaxion “” in the car was rammed by another car) the early- 1940s, which was actually a con- publicity which it attracted proved verted grain bin. Easily moved and as- equally fatal. The offending car, which sembled, these units made excellent was owned by a minor government of- temporary housing for the military dur- ficial, was removed from the accident ing World War II. A gradual shortage of

299 Ftgure 2: Futler and his Dymaxion car, shown together with one of his most recent artifacts, the fly’s eye dome,

--—. ..._.=- .....–—---

Ffgum 3: Scale drawing of the Dymaxion car, showing its interior design. The car was steered by its rear wheel. metal during the war, however, brought with the introduction of the geodesic about the end of the deployment unit. 1 dome. Bucky also designed “multi-deck” apart- Like most of Bucky’s projects, the ment houses, which, like his Dymaxion was a sort of accidental house, were hung from a central pole! invention-an offshoot of his attempt to Unfortunately, as with his Dymaxion understand the nature of the universe. house, these ideas were premature, Hugh Kenner, a professor of English at since not enough people could appreci- Johns Hopkins University and a good ate them. Thk only added to his share friend of Fuller, notes that Bucky says of bad luck. But all thk began to change he “didn’t set out to invent the geodesic

300 dome.” In fact, Bucky points out, “I “l’he result is a spherical representation might have come up with a pair of flying of these forms, or basicaLly, a spherical slippers. ”b system of triangles. According to Although I’m no student of mathe- Bucky, thk generates “a structured matics, I am going to attempt an expla- system of maximum economy. ”1 nation of how the geodesic dome In th~ final form, the dome system of evolved. Whale enormously simpliiled, I spherical triangles is formed by a series hope my version will at least give an in- of intercrossing circles on the sphere. dication of the incredible thought pro- FuUer thus chose the name “geodesic” cesses that brought about Fuller’s dome. for his , as in modern geometry The geodesic dome actually began with the arc of a great circle is called a Bucky’s attempt to organize the energy geodesic. (A great circle is a “circle patterns of the universe into a logical formed on the surface of a sphere by the system. He was hoping to create a intersection of a plane that passes geometry of energy. His attempts at through the center of the sphere.”? As creating this geometry brought him to, an example, the equator is a great circle among other things, the phenomenon on the earth. An arc is a portion of the that he called “closest-packing of curved line that constitutes the circle.T) spheres.” Bucky discovered that one Fufler’s geodesic domes have a num- sphere completely surrounded by other ber of remarkable quafities. They can spheres of identical size always formed a be built of many materials, such as 14-sided polyhedron. A polyhedron is paper, wood, or plastic. They can cover defined as a “solid form created by a much larger area of space than con- plane faces.”~ A cube, for example, is a ventional buildings, without needing in- polyhedron. Fuller cafled this 14-sided ternal support. They are also much polyhedron the “vector equilibrium” lighter and less expensive to build than because “all the sides of this figure are conventional buildings of comparable of equal length, and this length is the size. 1Figure 4 shows one of his geodesic same as the distance from any of its domes. vertexes to the center of the figure, ”l In With the introduction of the geodesic other words, the figure represents an dome in 1948, Bucky’s fortunes finally equihbriurn of forces. began to change. People all over the Fuller further discovered that if he world were thrilled with the dome, and removed the central sphere and com- wherever it was exhibited, it was an im- pressed the polyhedron, the resulting mediate hit. A demand for domes grew figure was an icosahedron, or a 20-sided steadily. When Bucky received the pat- solid figure. Continuing to contract ent (US patent #2,682,2.35) for the dome symmetrically, Fuller produced from on June 29, 1954, which gave him sole the icosahedron an (eight control of the geodesic dome, his for- sides) and finally a tetrahedron (four tune was finally made. He was then just sides, or a pyramid). These three forms, three weeks short of h~ sixtieth btih- Bucky found, are the only all-triangular, day. The patent has since expired, and symmetric systems. These systems rep- although Bucky is usually credited as resent an integrated system of forces, the dome’s inventor, he no longer and are quite stable. They will not col- makes any money from it. lapse or expand of their own accord. He To date, hundreds of thousands of believes, as a result, that they provide geodesic domes have been built around the most economical, stable structural the world. One of the largest was built in system. 1 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in October The geodesic dome itself is a result of 1958. Constructed by the Union Tank the projection of these triangular sys- Car Company, it was built to house tems outward onto a spherical surface. trains being repaired, The dome rises

301 F@me 4: Fuller’s gecdesic dome.

128 feet at its center, and covers a floor design of the strongest, lightest and area of 115,558 square feet, yet its total most efficient means of enclosing space weight is only 1,200 tons. yet devised by man.” Bucky has also Geodesic domes are relatively simple won the ’s Frank P. to build. Workmen in Brown medal, awarded “in recognition erected one in two days for the Intern- of discoveries involving meritorious im- ational Trade Fair in 1956 simply by fit- provement in building and allied indus- ting together parts that had been color- tries,” and the American Institute of coded in blue and red. It’s almost, in a Steel Construction Award for Excel- sense, a giant erector set! In fact, you lence. He has been made an honorary could easily build one with an erector citizen of many communities, and a set. Nobody, however, has ever specif- member and honorary member of nu- ically designed a geodesic dome merous organizations. These range from building kit as a toy. Another dome, Mensa International to the American built in Hawaii in the late- 1950s, was Association for the Advancement of completed in one day. It housed a sym- Science. He has been honored by phony orchestra and an audience of several “Buckminster Fuller days” and 1,822 that night. From 1959 to 1972, many other awards far too numerous to whale he was research professor of mention here. His biography lists 93 dif- at Southern Illinois Uni- ferent awards. Figure 5 gives a sampling versity, Bucky and Anne lived in a of them. geodesic dome. Another product of Bucky’s geometry Undoubtedly, the geodesic dome is is the concept of . The term the principal reason for Fuller’s intern- comes from a combination of the words ational fame. As the dome increased in “tensional integrity.”j In a tensegrity popularity, so did Bucky. Perhaps the system, parts are held together through most remarkable of his many resulting a “discontinuous-c oppression, continu- awards are his many medals from the ous-tension” relationship. It is as if, ac- American Institute of Architects. They cording to Bucky, “there would be a seem to have completely reversed their spherical building of bricks, in which earlier feelings about Bucky, and in the ~ricks would be interlaced with rub- 1960 they made him an honorary mem- ber bands; each brick would be in effect ber. In 1970, Bucky received his fourth restrained from escaping from the pat- award from this organization, a gold tern only by the rubber bands for no medal, for, among other things, “the brick would be in direct contact with

302 Ffgura 5: A select listing of awards preacnted to universe, That understanding, he has R. Buckminster Fuller. hoped, will allow mankind to live in the 1952 Award of Merit, American Institute of most efficient, yet luxurious, way possi- Architects ble. The inventions have been both by- 1954 Gran Premio, Trienmde de Mdan, Italy products and a part of this overalf goal. 19M Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects And while developing his inventions, 1%7 Centennial Award, Boston S.xiety of Bucky has also been trying to teU us Architects about the other, larger things he has 1%8 First Architectural Design Award, learned over the years. His early book, American Institute of Arctiltects 1%9 Citation of Merit, US Department of Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, Housing and Urban Development first introduced the concept of the 1%9 Humanist of the Year, American Earth as a spaceship. In it, he asserts Association of Humanists that the Earth is simply a mechanical ve- 1971 Hero for the Nuclear Age Citation, Center for Teaching about Peace and hicle, and like any such vehicle, it needs War, Wayne State University maintenance to continue operating 1972 Outstanding Lecturer and Author, welf. But, he goes on, “there is one Anchorage, ASaska outstandingly important fact regarding 1973 Citation of Honorary Citizenship, City of PhiladelpKla Spaceship Earth, and that is that no in- 1974 Appreciation Medal, Harvard Business struction book came with it .“6 It is up to School Club of New York us, he maintains, to learn how to 1975 Plsnetmy Citizens Award, operate our spaceship. We were given United Nations 1975 Reward for Peace, World Unification our intellect for precisely that reason. Movement We must forget, he said, the idea that 1977 Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award, we are a world composed of many na- New York League for the Hard of tions, and think of ourselves instead as Hearing 1977 Engineering and Science Award, Drexel one people traveling together. And our University Federation of Engineering immediate goal is to unite in our effort and Scientflc Societies to learn how to best use our environ- 1977 R, Buckminster Fulfer Day, Boston, ment—or spaceship-without destroy- Massachusetts (Febmary 11, 1977) 1978 R. Buckminster Fuller Davs. State of ing it. Mmneaota (April 2E30, lh8) The book’s message was one of op- timism, however. Bucky argued (and any other brick. ” A tensegrity system is does still) that technology is the answer. shown in Figure 6. Bucky has built alf Managed properly, he said, the Earth sorts of tensegrity gystesns-including could easily support us all in a high stan- towers that appear to stand without sup- dard of life. The trick to the whole port. Like geodesic domes, tensegrity thkg, he said, is to learn to “do more domes have no size Iiiitations, and in with less.”8 fact, the larger they are, the stronger His latest book, , takes up they are. Among Bucky’s dreams are the theme again. We have not yet fol- plans to cover a two-mile diameter sec- lowed the ideas expressed in Opemting tion of with a tensegnty Manual for Spaceship Earth, he says, dome.1 and the problem is now getting serious. Although Fuller has received a good [n fact, Fufler states that unless we follow deal of attention for his inventions, a the course of action outlined in the quick perusal of Figure 5 will make it book-or the criticaf path-we have no obvious that his recognition has not more than about five years left to us on been solely the result of the dome. The this planet.g Is he a prophet of doom? I dome may have gotten people to finally think he is overdramatizing to make a take Bucky seriously, but it is actually point. Indeed, Bucky still claims that we only a small portion of his work. As I ex- have everything here we need to live welf plained before, Bucky’s life goal has md happily indefinitely if we take action been to understand the patterns of the now. We must, for example, begin to

303 Figure 6: A tensegrit y sphere, draw on our energy “income”-sunfight, In spite of all he has done, however, water power, wind power, and geother- Bucky has not received as much atten- mal energy-and stop drawing from our tion as might be expected. I suspect that energy “savings account’’—fossil fuels. he is a “man ahead of his time” and his Yet even with the dire warnines. citation record seems to confirm that Bucky’s outlook remains optimistic. fie idea. A check of our citation indexes is certain that man can save hlmseff. He shows that he has received “only” 200 or summed up this feeling when he spoke so citations. The majority are to his recently on a Philadelphia talk show. book Opemting Manual for Spaceship “God,” Bucky said with a large smile, Earth. “is trying very hard to make us a suc- In an attempt to gain a better under- cess, ”g standing of Bucky’s citation record, we

304 decided to do a brief citation analysis. political realms under the laws of Using the 1%1 -1980 Science Citation mechanics.”lo Index@ (SCP ), the 1966-1980 Social Most, however, have either agreed Sciences Citation Indexm (SSCF ), and with or praised Fuller’s ideas. Typical of the 1976-1980 Arts & Humanities Cita- these citations: tion Index ‘“ (A&HCI ‘“), we ran a “A superb contribution toward un- check on what journals cited Bucky, derstanding how experience, properly and why. Over 200 articles cited Fuller evaluated, can help in avoiding waste in the years noted. Approximately 29 has been given by R. Buckminster disciplines were represented: 11 in the Fuller.”! I sciences, 12 its the social sciences, and “If you read the book .$yrrergetics, six in the arts and humanities. Journals you will realize that all systems inter- ranged in subject matter from account- face with other systems, have sub ing and art to medicine and meteorol- systems and form a part of larger ogy. In addition, education, religion, systems,”lz psychology, computer science, busi- “The recently recognised need to ness, aeronautics, political science, shift away from a concentration on physics, law, biology, economics, hous- land and water boundaries that must ing, and philosophy journals were all be jealously maintained and defended represented. The works most-cited—alf at all costs toward a concern for the books-are listed in Figure 7. Most of earth’s atmosphere that must be pro- tected [Utopia or OMiviorr] has cre- these works deal, in one form or an- ated a situation in which it is very de- other, with the same premises outliied sirable-and indeed, very urgent—to in Operating Manual for Spaceship invent new, more appropriate Earth. It is natural to wonder why jour- forrus.”13 nafs from so many different disciplines “At the present time, development turned up. of capacity on earth for all to live in The answer, we discovered, was rela- more direct relationship with energy tively simple. Fuller’s works fall general- than with matter emerges as the new ly into the category of “futurism.” And universal imperative. [Opemting writers dealing with the future- Manual for Spaceship Earth, Irrtu- whether in mathematics or educa- ition, And It Came to Pass-Not to tion—often found him a support for Stayl”14 their ideas. In addition, his concepts of “The philosophy that children have “doing more with less” and looking at unusual creative vitality has been the overafl structure of things are widely mentioned by many people ranging applicable. Some people, of course, from Herbert Read to Buckminster were ctitical or even uncomplimentary. Ftrller.”15 One writer, for example, said, “Ftrller’s “... Nothing seemed more per- Spaceship Earth seems oversimplified in suasive than the ‘dyrnaxion’ social the way it subsumes the biological and philosophy that R. Buckmirtster

F@ra 7: R. Buckmissster Fultev a selected bibfiogrsphy of his most-cited works.

Fafler R B. And it came to pass-not to sray. New York: Macmittan, 1976.157 p. ------Earth, Inc. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1973.180 p. ------I seem to be a verb. New York: Bantam, 1970.192 p...... Intuition. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1972.190 p...... Nine choins to the moon. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1%3. 375 p...... Opemting manual for spaceship earth. New York: Dutton, 1%3. 143 p...... -. Synergetic.: e.rplomtions in the geometry of thinking. New York: Macmiltan, 1975. 876p...... Synergetic., volume 11. New York: Macmitlan. 1979.592 p. ------Untitled epic poem on the hirtory of industtilization. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1%2. 227 p...... Utopia or oblivion. New York: Bantam, 1%9. 365 p.

305 Fuller had been articulating since the wavelength somehow different from twenties.. ,but not until the post- everyone else’s. But it is certainly possi- Marxist sixties, indicatively, did ble to understand Bucky. He has done FuUer become widely haifed as the much toward ensuring us a comfortable social visionary he had always future on this planet by encouraging been.”lb and insisting that we plan for the future, “The emerging future ‘super-indus- and by his insistence that we unite as a trial society’ desperately caffs for a planet of people. His dome has done mentality that operates holistically, anticipates rapid change and novelty, much toward that end—enchanting acknowledges the reciprocal interac- people all over the world with its simple tion of the components of general and beautiful design. In h~ own way, dynamic systems, recognizes that Bucky has spent his lifetime as an am- whole systems eshibi! behavior un- bassador of peace. predictable on the basis of their com- Bucky was nominated for the Nobel ponents taken separately (Fuller’s peace prize in 1969. Since alf documents synergy) . . . .“17 dealing with the prize are confidential, I “While high-energy and environ- don’t know why he didn’t win the prize mentally dangerous fechrrofogies will that year, but it seems tome that he was continue, a major revolution is occur- an excellent candidate. Nominations for ring in the field of microprocessors the Nobel peace prize, which must be in with immense potential for the saving of material [doing more with less in before February 1 of the prize year, may Buckminster Fuller’s sense) . . . .“18 be submitted by seven groups. Accord- ing to the Nobel committee, they are: “ ‘Structure’ is an abstract notion, “1, active and former members of the which we assign at will and which allows us to map familiar pieces and Nobel Committee of the Norwegian relations into a broader context and Storting and the advisers appointed by to search for other pieces and rela- the Norwegian Nobel Institute; 2. mem- tions this context implies. This is R. bers of the national assemblies and Buckminster Fufler’s strategy of the governments of the different states and posited whole in order to ferret out members of the Inter-parliamentary and map its dimensions which as such Union; 3. members of the International may not be readily observable.. ..”19 Court of Arbitration at The Hague; 4. “Fuller, whose professed field is members of the Commission of the Per- that of ‘comprehensive anticipatory manent International Peace Bureau; 5. design science,’ has revolutionized members and associate members of the the approach to archhecture and design through the application of Institute de Droit International; 6. uni- ecological and biological principles. versity professors of political science His concepts of ‘’ and jurisprudence, history and philoso- and ‘doing more with less’ have phy; 7. persons who have been awarded become accepted ideals within the the Nobel Peace Prize.”zl ever-widening body of environmental The Nobel committee then has histo- Literature.”zo ries prepared for all candidates, which Despite his age—he recently turned are considered and evaluated later in 86-Fuller is still going strong. His staff the year. If the committee feels one of keeps quite busy handling a ftdf those nominees is qual~led, they award schedule of trips, speeches, artifact the prize. Although I am not a member development, and publication. Few of any of those bodies, I hope that people cafl him a crackpot anymore, anyone who is wifl accept this reminder although some admit that they find him that Bucky is an eminently worthy can- difficult to understand. Bucky can often didate. be somewhat long-winded, and his Bucky’s gold medal award from the thinking does often seem to be on a American Institute of Architects best

306 sums up, I believe, the essence of this space yet devised by man. A man who remarkable man. The citation reads: has used himself as a laboratory of human response, who has at alJ times The American Institute of Architects concerned himself with the social im- presents the 1970 Gold Medal, the plications of his discoveries, who has highest honor it can bestow, to understtmd that real wealth is energy, Richard Buckminster Fuller, engi- and a man whose objective was hu- neer, inventor, mathematician, manit y’s success in the universe. educator, cartographer, philosopher, poet, author, cosmogonist, industrial

designer and architect, whose ideas, ● ☛☛☛☛ once considered visionasy, have now received national and international acceptance. A man responsible for My thanks to Susan Fell Evans and the design of the strongest, Jightest Edward M. Sweeney for their help in

and most efficient means of enclosing the prepamtion of this essay. 0,s, ISI

REFERENCES

t. Fuller R B & Minks R W. The Dymarion worfd of Buckminster Fuller. New York: Doubleday, t960. 246 p, 2. Snyder R, ed, Buckminsfer Fuller: an auto biogmphical monologue/scenario. New York: St. Martin’s, 1980.218 p. 3. The Dymaxion American. Time 10 January 1964, p. 4&51. 4. Mmtter M. The world of Buckminster Fulter: hk life m a work of art. Archi(, Forumt36(1):31; 49; 52-6, 1972. 5. Love J. Forget the energy crisis, says Buckrninster Fuller. Phila. Inquirer (Today Magazine) 10 May 1981, p. 18-2t. 6, Kermer H. Bucky Fuffer and the final exam, NY Times Magazine 6 July 1975, p. 10-6. 7, Websterk new collegiate dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam, 1973. 1532 p. 8. Fsrfler R B. Opemting manual for spaceship earth, New York: Dutton, 1%3. 143 p, 9, Witney & Co. /Live. Television interview. 24 June t981. 10. Wno&ock J, The garden in the machine: variations on spaceship earth. Mich. Quart. Rev. 18:30E 17, 1979. 1t. WJnthrorI H. Toward an extension and revision of the concerrt of waste, Amei. J. Econ. SOc. 39;273-&3, 1980. 12 Taylor L L. System engineering management of instmmentation projects. Advan. Instrum. 31(797):1-6, 1976. 13. Memd M. Towards a human wience, Science 191:933-9, 1976. t4. T&deman D V. Counseling psychology, 2000 A. D.? COWLS.Psycho/. 8:28-31, t980, 15, Nkksofsms S. No vanished futures: the chiids vision. Allema/iue Futures 2:68-95, 1979. 16, Kostefanetz R. Social phdosophy in America 1945-1%5, West. Human. Rev. 31:19>205, 1977 17, Hsffey R B & Vstter H G. Technology and the future as hktory: a critical review of futurism. Technol, CUIIUIP 19:53-82, t978, 18. Trfst E. The environment and system-response capability. Futures 12:113-27, 1980. 19, Rawski C H. The scientific study of subject literatures. Vi$ible Lang. 11:5-23, 1977. 20. Hart S L. The ; fulfdlsnent of the renaissance prophecy? Nafur, Resour. J. 20+M-21 , 1980. 21. Scbiic# H, SohkrnarrR, Osterffng A, Lftjestrassd G, Westgren A, Sfegbalm M, SChou A & Stable N K. Nobel: rhe man and his prize$. Amsterdam: Etsevier, 1%2. 690 p.

307