a+u 23:08, 635

a+u’s August issue features Buckminster Fuller’s 7 principles: 4D, dymaxion, synergetics, geodesic, tensegrity, design science, and Spaceship Earth. Fuller, born in 1895, spent more than 5 decades of his career, from 1927 till his death in 1983, dedicated to inventing and pioneering solutions to reform the environment for all humanity. With a far-reaching perspective on the world’s problems, he left behind numerous patents and inventions, having a massive influence over the generations that have followed. As detailed in an article by Fuller published in this issue, “We can invent objectively the instruments and tools that qualify us as local Universe problem-solvers.” His profound understanding of Universe led to his discovery of the principles, and thus to his inventions, including industrialized prefabricated houses, geodesic domes, and cartography. In this issue, Fuller’s patents and their real-world applications are selected and organized into chapters framed by these principles. Fuller, who held 24 patents in his lifetime, saw a patent as a catalog of Universe, a form of inheriting knowledge that can be accumulated and used by everyone. With the 7 principles as their foundation, the 13 patents and 30 works featured here reflect Fuller’s lifelong dedication and half-century of work on ambitious and diverse “experiments in individual initiative” – and the “polyhedral” image of Buckminster Fuller.

Text in English and Japanese.