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Imagine a house that gets stronger the bigger it is, can withstand strong hurricanes and earthquakes, is lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to build and maintain. Picture it being constructed out of geometric shapes like triangles, pyramids, circles and spheres. This futuristic structure was invented in 1948 by R. Buckminster Fuller, and is called the geodesic dome. "Bucky" Fuller believed that traditional architecture was weak because the bigger the building, the more chance it had of crumbling under its own weight. Fuller created his dome out of tetrahedrons -- pyramids with four faces. The triangle sides create a self-bracing framework that gives structural strength while using a minimum amount of material. The more weight that is put on the structure, the stronger it becomes. Another shape that makes up the dome is the sphere, which encloses the most volume using the least surface space. Because there are less surfaces and angles, it retains heat and withstands high winds. Over 200,000 domes of this kind have been built. They can be found all around the world, including Disney World's Epcot Center. The largest geodesic dome is 710 feet in diameter and resides in Kyosho Isle, Japan. The geodesic dome was one of many inventions that Fuller envisioned would help the world. He saw the dome as a solution for housing shortages because they were economical, energy efficient, and could be mass-produced on an assembly line. Fuller believed his mission was to help the world by "finding ways to do more with less to the end that all people everywhere can have more and more." Buckminster Fuller wanted to change the world. In 1927, the year he made this decision, Fuller had little to be optimistic about. He had no job, no money and a newborn and a wife to support. He was also mourning the death of his first daughter. Through this period of depression, Fuller decided that he could not give up and would start an experiment that would "discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity." He gave himself the nickname "Guinea Pig B" because, from then on, his life was going to be the experiment. He worked on achieving his goal for the next 50 years. In return he was awarded 44 honorary doctorate degrees, the Gold Medal of the American Institute of architects, plus many others. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Fuller wrote 28 books and was given 25 U.S. patents. Fuller was an inventor, engineer, architect, mathematician, designer, poet, philosopher and cartographer. His many other inventions include the Dymaxion car -- a streamlined threewheeled vehicle with the engine in the back; the 4D House, and the Dymaxion Air-Ocean Map, which projected the world as a flat surface without any distortion. He also conceived or coined many mathematical terms that are still used today. Most identify Fuller with the geodesic dome, but his impact went far beyond that one invention. He had the spirit of creativity and used it to help humanity by finding new, effective ways of building things that make everyday life easier. |