R. Buckminster Fuller

Richard Buckminster Fuller Jr. was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more than 30 books.   Among his inventions were the geodesic dome home, which became the inspiration behind Disney's Spaceship Earth at Epcot. He coined or popularized such terms as "Spaceship Earth," and "Dymaxion" (e.g., Dymaxion house, Dymaxion car).He lived from July 12, 1895 to July 1, 1983).

He married Anne Hewlett in 1917. The couple had two daughters together. Their marriage lasted until Fuller's death in 1983. Anne was a significant support in his life and work. Fuller often credited her with helping him through difficult times.

He was a brilliant eccentric, awarded 28 United States patents and many honorary doctorates, including an honorary degree from Harvard University in 1967, where, ironically he had been expelled the first year he attended in 1917. Below are some of his inventions arising from his Dymaxion patents.

Dymaxion car, circa 1935:

The Dymaxion car was designed during the Great Depression and featured prominently at Chicago's 1933/1934 World's Fair. Fuller built three experimental prototypes to explore a vehicle that might one day be designed to fly, and drive.

The Dymaxion's aerodynamic bodywork was designed for increased fuel efficiency and top speed, and its platform featured a lightweight hinged chassis, rear-mounted V8 engine, front-wheel drive, and three wheels, with steering via its third wheel at the rear.

Dymaxion house:

On display at the Henry Ford museum, Dearborn, Michigan.

The Dymaxion house was developed to address several perceived shortcomings with existing homebuilding techniques. Fuller designed several versions of the house at different times—all of them factory manufactured kits, assembled on site, intended to be suitable for any site or environment and to use resources efficiently. A key design consideration was ease of shipment and assembly.

The most common material in the Dymaxion House, and the one that poses the greatest conservation challenges, is aluminum. The lightweight material was used in every possible application, from the floor’s structure to the roof panels, even the closets.

Two Dymaxion houses were prototyped—one indoor (the "Barwise" house) and one outdoor (the "Danbury" house). No Dymaxion house built according to Fuller's intentions was ever constructed and lived in. The only two prototypes of the round, aluminum house were bought by investor William Graham, together with assorted unused prototyping elements as salvage after the venture failed. In 1948, Graham constructed a hybridized version of the Dymaxion house as his family's home; the Grahams lived there into the 1970s. Graham built the round house on his lake front property, disabling the ventilator and other interior features. It was inhabited for about 30 years, although as an extension to an existing ranch house, rather than a standalone structure as intended by Fuller. In 1990, the Graham family donated this house to the Henry Ford Museum. A painstaking process was used to conserve as many original component parts and systems as possible and restore the rest using original documentation from the Fuller prototyping process. It was installed indoors in the Henry Ford Museum in 2001 with a full exhibit.

While some institutions would put such a rare artifact away for safekeeping or design a display that kept visitors at bay, The Henry Ford invested $1 million in a restoration project that would open the house to the public. Open as in visitors could walk through the front door, tour rooms and experience the domed dwelling from the inside out.