Audio Tour:
Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe
About
R. Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) was one of the greatest American thinkers of the 20th century—and a visionary for the 21st century. Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe is the first major US exhibition of Fuller’s work in 35 years and is a testament to his fascinating mix of utopian vision and organic pragmatism. A combination of models, sketches, and other artifacts—many on view for the first time—represent six decades of the artist’s integrated approach to housing, transportation, communication, and cartography.
Buckminster Fuller’s grandson, Jaime Snyder, provides insight on the exhibition.
Audio Playlist
- 01
Jamie Snyder
Introduction to Buckminster Fuller
00:04:14 - 02
Jamie Snyder
Early Drawings
00:04:03 - 03
Jamie Snyder
Dymaxion House
00:04:14 - 04
Jamie Snyder
Terminology and the word "dymaxion"
00:04:06 - 05
Jamie Snyder
Anne Fuller's drawings of the Dymaxion House
00:02:43 - 06
Jamie Snyder
Dymaxion Car
00:03:55 - 07
Jamie Snyder
Isamu Noguchi and Buckminster Fuller
00:03:36 - 08
Jamie Snyder
Wichita House
00:05:41 - 09
Jamie Snyder
World Energy Map
00:05:28 - 10
Jamie Snyder
World Map
00:06:00 - 11
Jamie Snyder
World Game
00:07:25 - 12
Jamie Snyder
Black Mountain College
00:04:37 - 13
Jamie Snyder
Institute of Design
00:03:44 - 14
Jamie Snyder
Rowing Needles
00:04:50 - 15
Jamie Snyder
Bucky as a Sailor
00:02:16 - 16
Jamie Snyder
Geodesic Dome
00:04:27 - 17
Jamie Snyder
Dome over Manhattan
00:05:57
Related content
Collection
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A blueprint-like illustration shows plans for a structure with a conical roof.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A faded black-and-white image shows a strange hybrid vehicle resembling a mix between a Volkswagen bus and a boat.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A faded black-and-white image shows a metallic sphere made up of hundreds of small geometric panels.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short In this greyscale photo, a very large domed structure is riddled with dozens of human-sized holes. A man stands in front of the structure, providing scale.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short What appears to be an architectural blueprint displays various different geometric patterns.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A greyscale image shows a white structure akin to power line poles extending vertically upward and into the background.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short What appears to be an architectural blueprint displays various angles and types of a circular, multifaceted geometric form.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short This two-tone photograph captures an aerial view of a snowy mountain peak and clouds.
- Long The snowy mountain peak occupies the entire lower right half of the frame. A switchback road ascends the left face of peak. In the upper left, the peak's shadow lands on a tightly packed cluster of clouds. The texture of the mountain and cloud are very similar, forcing the viewer to look closer to identify the different elements.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A blueprint shows multiple views of a single-seated, sail-powered catamaran.
- Long Occupying the center is a large diagram of the complete vessel with sail extended and two pencil-shaped struts pointing toward the lower right of the image. It is flanked on either side by multiple views from a variety of angles of individual parts of of the vessel. Numerical annotations point to individual components throughout the image.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short In this high contrast two-tone screen printed photo we look down at a bald man siting in a canoe-sized catamaran on calm lightly rippled water that is pointed toward the viewer.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short In this blueprint, a hollow ovoid loosely constructed from thin white bars occupies is centered within a white frame. Along either side, a series of cross-sections of the ovoid highlight the different shapes and angles formed by the white bars. Labels point to different pieces of the ovoid with values ranging from 20A at the low end, 44B at the middle, and 74 at the high end.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A bald man wearing glasses and a suit and tie occupies the lower left quarter of this two-tone photograph. He holds a hollow, cage-like ovoid constructed from thin white sticks.
- Buckminster Fuller, Inventions: Twelve Around One, 1981
- Short A horizontal rectangle in a shade of dark blue has no other distinguishing features.