Born Richard Buckminster Fuller Jr. in Massachusetts, Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was a famed architect, inventor, and innovator.

From a young age, Fuller showed an interest in understanding the structure, maintenance, and construction of the world around him. He enrolled in Harvard but later left, working odd jobs. He served in the Navy for two years, and during his service, engineered a winch for rescue boats. This invention set into motion decades of philanthropic engineering successes throughout his life and career.

He notably invented the Dymaxion House, an affordable home that could be mass-produced. He focused his mind on “doing more with less,” and worked towards a more efficient future. His most prominent design, however, was his Geodesic Dome.

In 1947, he engineered a dome composed of triangles that seamlessly distributed stress without sacrificing inside space for support. Fuller drew much of his inspiration from mathematics and balanced designs present in nature. The geodesic dome design is still widely used and can be seen in buildings around the world. Fuller also created the Dymaxion Map, which displayed the entire world without the projection warping found on many globes and other maps, depicting a more cohesive worldview. Fuller spent much of his career traveling, lecturing, and published over thirty books. In his lifetime, for his immense design accomplishments and philanthropic efforts, Bucky was awarded 47 honorary degrees around the world.

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller

View Buckminster Fuller’s sculptures Duo-Tet Star Polyhedras, 1980, and Spaceship Earth Sky-Ocean Dymaxion Map, 1970, on display now at the Powers Art Center.