Dymaxion House
As one the top designers of the 20th 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 6000 lbs 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 beauty of this design is that buckminster had already thought of everyday aspects of a household and incorporated it into this design. If this house were to be made today, I believe it would be much more cost-effective and useful. since we are running out of buildable land day after day, this design will help us be more efficient with our land usage and power usage. I can understand why this design never fully took off during Bucks time, but I believe since times are different more and more people may be interested in this design.
Bibliography
“R. Buckminster Fuller / – Design/Designer Information.” R. Buckminster Fuller / – Design/Designer Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <http://designmuseum.org/design/r-buckminster-fuller>.
defluence 
Very thoughtful of Buckminster, the exterior looks interesting, looking the tip of a hershey’s kisses or an UFO space ship. Do you know what kind of plastic he wanted to use? cause heat + normal plastic do not mix!
– Marissa
the main materials used for the home were aluminum and sheet metal for the shell. plastic was used for its light wieght, and was used in the bathroom, ie the toilet was platic molded. similar to how pvc plastic is used in todays plumbing.
mansoureh