‘I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.’ – R. Buckminster Fuller
On my last day in Montreal, I took a visit to the site of the 1967 World Expo which features a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. The site has been transformed into a Museum of the environment, exploring issues related to the Biosphere. Its a worthy testament to the work of Buckminster Fuller, a true visionary who, through his explorations in Architecture, Design, Engineering and various other disciplines, posited a revolutionary worldview. At a time when the Cold War was at its height, and the world was divided on boundary lines, Fuller’s asked us to question the existence of these boundaries. He asserted that ‘we are all astronauts,’ and dedicated his life to develop an operating manual for ‘Spaceship Earth.’ Its a view of the world which remains challenging to this day, yet continues to point the way forward.
One such project was the ‘World Game’, which utilised his revolutionary Dymaxion Globe design for representing the Earth (pictured above). The rules of the game reveal something of Fuller’s simple yet revolutionary philosophy and worldview: ‘In our world game we propose to explore and test by assimilated adoption various schemes of ‘How to Make the World Work.’ To win the world game everybody must be made physically successful. Everybody must win.’ For more information about this remarkable astronaut, visit the Buckminster Fuller Institute website.
An hour-long interview with Bucky from 1974, which explores his work as a navigator of human consciousness.
