Influence

As an innovator and pioneer of his time, Buckminster Fuller had a tremendous impact on society and the great thinkers of today. During a time where the environment and efficiency was not a factor, Buckminster came up with alternative methods of thinking and solving problems.  As a student who is striving for success, I believe following the mindset of Buckminster would be helpful in reaching success. He has helped me realize that I should try to be less mainstream and try to think more uniquely.  But at the same time his life has shown that good ideas won’t always be successful unless society accepts them.  He also helped me understand that using forms and shapes can help create different designs that  are both “efficient”, for example a dome requires less ventilation due to its round shape and uses less sq footage for the volume of space given. One key factor that I’ve learned from him is that, these days budget and low cost is an enormous factor for people and Bucky has taught me that by thinking alternatively and smart you can achieve many things, and if I understand the science of nature and different materials, I could easily incorporate them into my designs.

4D Tower

In 1927 before fuller was into designing his geodesic domes, he devised what he called his “4D tower”.  This tower was to be the centerpiece of his master plan to use the planet and its resources as efficient as possible. This design was made to be twelve-story building that was constructed around a central mast. He claimed that his building design was fireproof and largely self-sufficient. Other key feature of the design was that it was aerodynamic and as light as a single family house. The costs of operating the building would only be a tenth and could be constructed within a day. Each unit in the building would come already equipped with all the conveniences of modern living with everything from telephones to typewriters already installed. In theory the construction required a zeppelin air ship to drop actual bombs on a location and create a crater where later these buildings would be literally planted like trees.

Dymaxion House and the Fly’s Eye

Dymaxion House

As one the top designers of the 20^th century, Buckminster Fuller had many ideas that set him apart from others in the same field. One of the ideas was the Dymaxion House.  He unveiled the house in the interior decorating department of the Chicago department store, Marshall-Field. The name Dymaxion – Dy(namic)max(imum)ion was funded by the marketer Waldo Warren who, after listening to Fuller talk for two days, planned endless combinations of syllables taken from his highly idiosyncratic vocabulary.  All dymaxion houses of the similar design would have to be essentially the same in order to benefit from the economies and precision of mass production. Weighting around 6000lbs and made from mainly aluminum, lightweight steel and plastic it was suspended from a central mast from which the rooms radiated in a hexagonal plan. Bucky had pointed out that any combination of molecules that nature permits is “natural”. And Aluminum being the second most common element in the earth’s crust, it is indefinite.  The house had many features; a main floor and observation/recreation/garden deck were incorporated into the home.  An evenly distributing climate control system was added to the house as well in which bedclothes were not necessary. A single light source, controlled by mirrors and dimmers served the entire space. The filtered ventilation system and a washer-dryer that also put the clothes away reduced housework to a minimum. Buckminster had a belief that nobody should “have to put in an 8 hour day devoted to yesterday’s dirt. The appliances in the home were built in the wall to save space and were designed to be easily replaced once newer and better technology came into the market. Unfortunately the dymaxion house never went into production; this was mainly because of two reasons. First reason, the necessary materials were not yet available at a reasonable price.  The second being a direct result of the first, the cost of tooling up for the production was way too high, would count to billions in today’s dollars.

The Fly’s Eye

Due to the fact that fact that efficiency was a major fundamental in fuller’s designs, he thought of a way to expand his Dymaxion House idea. Although his Dymaxion house was already very efficient, he believed there were some areas where he could improve. His new idea of a “Fly’s Eye” home was the next step in this expansion. There were many advantages in his new design, the dymaxion house could not be delivered “turnkey” ready for use, mostly because it required skilled on-site assembly. The Fly’s Eye was mobile and portable, it could be moved from location to location without having any complex adjustments. It was formed with only a few self positioning parts and components. He believed the Fly’s Eye concept had the potential to fulfill the requirements of a global dwelling service. Extra decks could be added for increased space, as well along with mobile furnishings, the floor could be easily and quickly cleared for parties or such. The “Eye’s” could be filled with numerous objects. For example: glazing, doors, vents or even solar panels to even give the home an extra boost in efficiency. He also believed since these homes were mobile, you could just pick up and move neighbourhoods whenever you pleased.

MONTREAL BIOSPHERE

The Montreal Biosphere was a mix of Buckminster’s design and philosophy. He used his ideal geodesic design by building the biosphere with triangles, which were used for strength and rigidness. It measures 76 metres in diameter, and 62 metres in height .As in all of Fuller’s domes, they used three- dimensional units, a triangle on the outside, hexagonal on the inside, and curved to fit a given arc, as its structural basis. Because they connected all these shapes together to make one structure, they were able to distribute the weight of the whole thing, thus being able to create ¾ of perfect sphere. He proved that it was possible to establish a livable space only using one-fifth of the materials that were regularly used at the time for architecture. The biosphere had earned itself a reputation of being the number one attraction at the Expo ’67, with visitors reaching 5.3 million people.  Fuller incorporated all of his ideologies into this structure. It used a complex system of retractable shading screens to control the heat within the biosphere. An automated computing system was designed to adjust the shading screens in accordance with the sun’s light. As well the exterior covering of the building was tinted to also assist with light and heat. After fifteen years of being closed to the public and a horrific fire, in 1990, Environment Canada purchased the site to turn it into an interactive museum, showcasing and exploring the water ecosystems of the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River regions.

Ideas and Concepts behind the Geodesic Dome

One of the main ideas that led to the design of buckminster’s geodesic dome was the difference between the strength of a triangle and a rectangle. When pressure is applied to both, the rectangle folds where as the triangle withstands the pressure and stays rigid, as well the triangle is shown to be twice as strong as the rectangle. This idea aimed his studies toward creating a new architectural design, the geodesic dome, based also upon his idea of “doing more with less.” Fuller discovered that if a spherical structure was created from triangles, it would have enormous strength. The geodesic sphere incorporates the most volume of interior space with the least amount of surface area thus saving on materials and cost. As well, when the diameter of a sphere is doubled it will quadruple its sq. footage and produce eight times the volume

There are many advantages with geodesic dome, some include:

• Its decreased surface area requires less building materials.
• Exposure to cold in the winter and heat in the summer is decreased because, being spherical, there is the least surface area per unit of volume per structure.
• The concave interior creates a natural airflow that allows the hot or cool air to flow evenly throughout the dome with the help of return air ducts.
• Extreme wind turbulence is lessened because the winds that contribute to heat loss flow smoothly around the dome.
• It acts like a type of giant down-pointing headlight reflector and reflects and concentrates interior heat. This helps prevent radiant heat loss.

 

But as per some critics, there are many disadvantages to geodesic domes as well

• The shape of a dome house makes it difficult to conform to code requirements for placement of sewer vents and chimneys
• Windows conforming to code can cost anywhere from 5 to 15 times as much as windows in conventional houses
•  Privacy is difficult to guarantee because a dome is difficult to partition satisfactorily. Sounds, smells, and even reflected light tend to be conveyed through the entire structure.
• Dome builders find it hard to seal domes against rain, because of their many seams. Also, these seams may be stressed because ordinary solar heat flexes the entire structure.
• As with any curved shape, the dome produces wall areas that can be difficult to use and leaves some peripheral floor area with restricted use due to lack of headroom. Circular plan shapes lack the simple modularity provided by rectangles. Furnishers and fitters usually design with flat surfaces.

1. Inspiration

After hitting rock bottom and almost reaching the brink of suicide, due to the loss of his daughter, Fuller went through a period of enlightenment where he felt he was spoken to from a higher power, “From now on you need never await temporal attestation to your thought. You think the truth. You do not have the right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong to you. You belong to the Universe. Your significance will remain forever obscure to you, but you may assume that you are fulfilling your role if you apply yourself to converting your experiences to the highest advantages of others”. He lived to fulfill his role as an altruist who dedicated his life to the improvement of humanity.  This idea became part of his philosophy and ideology.  “To make the world work for one hundred percent of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” He dedicated his life, calling himself the Guinea Pig “B”, to finding ways to improve mankind and humanity, emphasising specifically in efficiency.

Quick Minute Video of Bucky’s own geodesic dome Home

The Planet’s Friendly Genius

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Born on July 12, 1895 in Milton, Massachusetts, Richard Buckminster Fuller was one the leading architect, inventor, and futurist of the 20th century. He is best known for his design of the Geodesic dome and the Dymaxion car. He holds … Continue reading →