Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
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Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)

Richard Buckminster Fuller was an American engineer and architect who is renowned for his geodesic domes. In these spherical domes ribs are placed in a triangular or polygonal pattern and lie on the geodesic lines of a sphere. Geodesic domes are very lightweight structures that can span large areas. A well known example is the geodesic dome Fuller constructed for the United States exhibit at Expo67 in Montreal.

This picture shows Fuller on the cover of Time Magazin, January 10, 1964. Notice how his head is modelled as a geodesic dome. Can you find a pentagon?

Buckminster Fuller died in 1983, so he did not live to see the discovery of the molecule (in 1985) that now bears his name. But maybe he did did have a sixth sense, since he chose to work as a professer at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

If you want to learn more about Richard Buckminster Fuller and geodesic domes, be sure to visit the Internationale Architekturdatenbank to read his biography and see a review of his works


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