a creative universe
STARTING WITH THE UNIVERSE : PRESCIENT PROJECTIONS
STARTING WITH THE UNIVERSE : PRESCIENT PROJECTIONS
ELENA PASCOLO, urbanista interested in the here there and everywhen reflects on the BUCKMINSTER FULLER: STARTING WITH THE UNIVERSE exhibition recently held at the Whitney Museum in New York.
Exotic geometries, geodesic domes encasing Manhattan, cabinets teeming with a menagerie of three-dimensional models; spindles supporting houses conceptualised as efficient volumes for a sustainable ‘dymaxion’ lifestyle complete with a streamlined vehicle; a story of the deep structure of nature, the universe and time, narrated with the magical clarity of a children’s bedtime storybook; an unfolded world revealing the interconnectedness of our geopolitical relationships….rooms full of enquiry and invention engulf you at the Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the universe exhibition. These shapes of things to come that held such promise for a future that never materialised seem both alien and nostalgic. R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) championed a superbly modern optimism in technology that now seems both audacious and naïve.
It is an overwhelming experience to be confronted with the sheer volume of thought and tangential applications generated by the pioneer of environmentally conscious design. But what to make of this almost B grade sci-fi movie legacy?
‘Bucky’, performing 12 hour lectures, replete with horn rimmed spectacles, respectable suit and a quirky personalised lexicon to describe his theories and postulations, was the presentable face of the hippie movement. Loved by students he inspired a generation that went on to create; experimental communities (Drop City); direct the next stage of our digital revolution (Kevin Kelly of Wired Magazine); establish an influential consultancy deploying the technique of world game scenarios to postulate likely outcomes (Global Business network).
But what relevance does Buckminster Fuller’s oeuvre have for us today? Can we consign him to mere jumble sale nostalgia - a tongue-in-cheek look at where we have come from and a regretful mourning for where we didn’t quite get to? Or could it be a moment to pause and reflect on how his methodology of ‘unfolding the world’ - by analysing the universe – could show us how to engage creatively with global issues such as climate change and financial crises?
An autodidact who drew from the fields of engineering, architecture, mathematics, physics and sailing, Fuller followed a multidisciplinary method of enquiry that allowed him to shift conventional forms of thinking; about the house, transportation, and especially, the cartography of the world.
This restless inquisitiveness framed by a dedication to “spaceship earth” reinforced a belief in comprehensive design thinking to link these seemingly disparate fields in the pursuit of resolving universal challenges of resource management. A quote from a window display outside the Whitney Museum exhibition points to how prescient his vision were regarding the crises we would be facing.
“Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eights of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we gave this some thought.” Buckminster Fuller. I seem to be a verb (1972)
The persistent application of reasoning across different problems yielded surprising results. His Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map (1920s-1943) provided a comprehensive view of the world; a new cartography that dispelled distortions and inverted the polarised logic of a northern and a southern hemisphere. A linked net of icosahedrons creating an unfolded map of the world showing linked continents surrounded by one ocean. This geometrical arrangement challenged the nationalist tendencies in the geopolitical world order of the cold war years. We were after all one world facing shared challenges of diminishing resources, and still are!
I am no expert on Fuller - or disciple for that matter - so I will not attempt to give a summary of his life or contributions. This is best left to the academics whose reflections you can access via the links I have included. All I can do is register that there is a resonance in this multidimensional approach to problem solving that enables us to grasp the nettle of our capacity as creative thinkers to perceive the congruency of interlinked events and the interconnectedness of things. In our current state of crunching crises we revert back to the past to see what models of thinking we can rescue to help us see and think about our world systems differently. In contemplating humanity we could indeed start with the geometry of the universe - Pythagoras pursued then - a projection of possibility!
Exhibition Info:
Buckminster Fuller: starting with the universe
Curated by Michael Hays and Dana Miller
This exhibition is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in association with the Department of Special Collections of the Stanford University Libraries
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Exhibition ran from the 26.06.08 to 21.09.08
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago.
Next stop Chicago from the 14.03.09 to the 21.06.09
“From his geodesic dome to books popularizing the terms "spaceship earth" and "synergetics," the life mission of R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was to create design solutions that benefited the largest segment of humanity while consuming the fewest resources. This exhibition explores Fuller's extraordinary body of work, focusing on his wide-ranging and sometimes controversial role within the worlds of art, architecture, and utopian thought.” http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/exh_detail.php?id=202
Links:
http://www.whitney.org/www/buckminster_fuller/about.jsp
This is the official exhibition web site with all the links and you tube extras you will ever need to get immersed in Fuller’s world.
http://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue=200809&id=21343
The November 2008 issue featured the legacy of Buckminster Fuller’s global outlook. Well worth going through the tedium of registering for yet another website.
http://www.bfi.org
All the disciples seem to flock here, the official Buckminster Fuller Institute with links to archives, writings and musings.
ELENA PASCOLO, urbanista interested in the here there and everywhen reflects on the BUCKMINSTER FULLER: STARTING WITH THE UNIVERSE exhibition recently held at the Whitney Museum in New York.
Exotic geometries, geodesic domes encasing Manhattan, cabinets teeming with a menagerie of three-dimensional models; spindles supporting houses conceptualised as efficient volumes for a sustainable ‘dymaxion’ lifestyle complete with a streamlined vehicle; a story of the deep structure of nature, the universe and time, narrated with the magical clarity of a children’s bedtime storybook; an unfolded world revealing the interconnectedness of our geopolitical relationships….rooms full of enquiry and invention engulf you at the Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the universe exhibition. These shapes of things to come that held such promise for a future that never materialised seem both alien and nostalgic. R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) championed a superbly modern optimism in technology that now seems both audacious and naïve.
It is an overwhelming experience to be confronted with the sheer volume of thought and tangential applications generated by the pioneer of environmentally conscious design. But what to make of this almost B grade sci-fi movie legacy?
‘Bucky’, performing 12 hour lectures, replete with horn rimmed spectacles, respectable suit and a quirky personalised lexicon to describe his theories and postulations, was the presentable face of the hippie movement. Loved by students he inspired a generation that went on to create; experimental communities (Drop City); direct the next stage of our digital revolution (Kevin Kelly of Wired Magazine); establish an influential consultancy deploying the technique of world game scenarios to postulate likely outcomes (Global Business network).
But what relevance does Buckminster Fuller’s oeuvre have for us today? Can we consign him to mere jumble sale nostalgia - a tongue-in-cheek look at where we have come from and a regretful mourning for where we didn’t quite get to? Or could it be a moment to pause and reflect on how his methodology of ‘unfolding the world’ - by analysing the universe – could show us how to engage creatively with global issues such as climate change and financial crises?
An autodidact who drew from the fields of engineering, architecture, mathematics, physics and sailing, Fuller followed a multidisciplinary method of enquiry that allowed him to shift conventional forms of thinking; about the house, transportation, and especially, the cartography of the world.
This restless inquisitiveness framed by a dedication to “spaceship earth” reinforced a belief in comprehensive design thinking to link these seemingly disparate fields in the pursuit of resolving universal challenges of resource management. A quote from a window display outside the Whitney Museum exhibition points to how prescient his vision were regarding the crises we would be facing.
“Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eights of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we gave this some thought.” Buckminster Fuller. I seem to be a verb (1972)
The persistent application of reasoning across different problems yielded surprising results. His Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map (1920s-1943) provided a comprehensive view of the world; a new cartography that dispelled distortions and inverted the polarised logic of a northern and a southern hemisphere. A linked net of icosahedrons creating an unfolded map of the world showing linked continents surrounded by one ocean. This geometrical arrangement challenged the nationalist tendencies in the geopolitical world order of the cold war years. We were after all one world facing shared challenges of diminishing resources, and still are!
I am no expert on Fuller - or disciple for that matter - so I will not attempt to give a summary of his life or contributions. This is best left to the academics whose reflections you can access via the links I have included. All I can do is register that there is a resonance in this multidimensional approach to problem solving that enables us to grasp the nettle of our capacity as creative thinkers to perceive the congruency of interlinked events and the interconnectedness of things. In our current state of crunching crises we revert back to the past to see what models of thinking we can rescue to help us see and think about our world systems differently. In contemplating humanity we could indeed start with the geometry of the universe - Pythagoras pursued then - a projection of possibility!
Exhibition Info:
Buckminster Fuller: starting with the universe
Curated by Michael Hays and Dana Miller
This exhibition is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in association with the Department of Special Collections of the Stanford University Libraries
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Exhibition ran from the 26.06.08 to 21.09.08
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Chicago.
Next stop Chicago from the 14.03.09 to the 21.06.09
“From his geodesic dome to books popularizing the terms "spaceship earth" and "synergetics," the life mission of R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was to create design solutions that benefited the largest segment of humanity while consuming the fewest resources. This exhibition explores Fuller's extraordinary body of work, focusing on his wide-ranging and sometimes controversial role within the worlds of art, architecture, and utopian thought.” http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/exh_detail.php?id=202
Links:
http://www.whitney.org/www/buckminster_fuller/about.jsp
This is the official exhibition web site with all the links and you tube extras you will ever need to get immersed in Fuller’s world.
http://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue=200809&id=21343
The November 2008 issue featured the legacy of Buckminster Fuller’s global outlook. Well worth going through the tedium of registering for yet another website.
http://www.bfi.org
All the disciples seem to flock here, the official Buckminster Fuller Institute with links to archives, writings and musings.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Editor-in-Chief on September 29, 2009 at 9:06am -
Check out the Buckminster Fuller Challenge - ideas competition for saving the planet!
http://challenge.bfi.org/movie
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Comment by angus on January 28, 2009 at 11:12pm -
oh yes baby!!!!
so good to see the spirit of bucky lives in our thoughts, recollections and moments like these..
i worked on a viral engagement program based largely on Buckminsters DOME shape, which was meant to be activated during the United Nations Youth and Safer Cities Conference held in South Africa last year..
during the research the dome shape became integral to spreading the idea of the the 'Wellbeing' meme, as a solution to making our cities safer and more harmonious places. it eventually became animated as people standing inna circle, facing each other, and bending their backs to bring their heads together... alovely and powerful image.
i think bucky's ideas are even more relevant to us now, since we have the cognitive systems and the urgent need to interpret the ideals of "ephemeralization", and more so, the idea of having 'men of tengresity'
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Comment by Editor-in-Chief on January 28, 2009 at 10:49pm
- Quite!
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Comment by Annemie van den Heever on January 21, 2009 at 11:46am -
I can understand how Buckminster Fuller's work can be considered 'audacious and naive'. But in order for people to consider certain ideas normal, you have to push their boundaries much further.
This idea can be supported, by looking at certain 'new' solutions that, most probably, germinated from ideas by radical historical movements. Ex. The Situationsts, a radical movement in the 60's in Paris, asked for the abolishment of private cars and called for all cars to be communal property. This dislike for private car ownership in Paris is still evident, as seen from the yearly destruction of 100's of cars in the streets of Paris over New Year's eve. Recently, Paris started a new system using public bicycles – the ‘Velib’ bicycle system: which comprises thousands of free (or almost free) bicycles spread throughout the city. (Online article: www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/may/12/france.paris.cycling) It is very likely that both these concepts originated from the Situationists' outrageous ideas.
Buckminster Fuller's optimism in technology, is a sentiment that is evident in most Movements since the early 1900's. For example:
An optimism in the potential of technology is evident in the theories of Constant Nieuwenhuys, founding member of COBRA. He had the believe that technology has the ability to solve societal problems, such as allowing people more free time to 'play'.
A more recent example of an optimistic view of technology is Bruce Mau's project 'Massive Change'. One of the central themes of the book is how technology has the potential to mitigate or even prevent catastrophic global climate change. The project was mostly criticized for excluding information that might contradict his polemic. But it is still a refreshing opinion to those that consider a rural lifestyle the only possible solution.
In my opinion, work such as Buckminster Fuller's, serve the purpose of making people more comfortable with new ideas, because it is already ingrained in history, and tame in comparison.
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