Buckminster Fuller
Geodesic dome by Buckminster Fuller. United States pavilion for Expo 67, Montréal. Photo in public domain: POET ARCHITECTURE on Flickr.
Richard Buckminster Fuller was a renowned 20th century inventor and visionary born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. Dedicating his life to making the world work for all of humanity, Fuller operated as a practical philosopher who demonstrated his ideas as inventions that he called “artifacts.” Fuller did not limit himself to one field but worked as a “comprehensive anticipatory design scientist” to solve global problems surrounding housing, shelter, transportation, education, energy, ecological destruction, and poverty.
Throughout the course of his life Fuller held 28 patents, authored 28 books, received 47 honorary degrees. And while his most well known artifact, the geodesic dome, has been produced over 300,000 times worldwide, Fuller’s true impact on the world today can be found in his continued influence upon generations of designers, architects, scientists and artists working to create a more sustainable planet.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
—R. Buckminster Fuller
David Cayley was the host of CBC Ideas. He posted the Age of Ecology series on his site. Part Five featured John Todd, who won the Buckminster Fuller Challenge Award.