Architect Richard Buckminster Fuller designed a home that was heated and cooled by natural means; that made its own power; was earthquake and storm-proof, and made of permanent, engineered materials that didn’t require any maintenance. You could easily change the floor plan, squeezing the bedrooms to make the living room bigger for a party, for instance.
Could the ideas in this house be used again in cities or urban cultures?
Demand for the house was high, but Fuller soon realised this would destroy the housing market and put people out of jobs. The Dymaxion house could be assembled in a day and construction workers needed long-term contracts.
KS3
Design a Dymaxion house using any materials at hand. What materials could really be used? Could they be taken into space and used on the moon?
KS4
Document historical change in your life-time. What key urban innovations have taken place and how do they effect the everyday person? Are they signs for change in the future? An example is the Smart car.
Year 1011
Look at how Dymaxion was designed through the website www.wnet.orgcgi-binbucky-binbucky.cgi and discuss issues regarding its validity.
