It seems mandatory that as an industrial designer you must be a dedicated fan of Buckminster Fuller. As someone who had the exceptional opportunity to study under Jay Baldwin, one of his assistants, it seemed to me that I better know more than the average joe. After looking into it, I realized I actually knew very little.
I was also quite inspired by Design for the Real World by Victor Papaneck. He mentioned this book as a go to resource for everything Bucky and more. So I picked up this book as a first step to learning more about the man after realizing that beyond the Geodesic dome, I actually knew very little of Bucky’s work.
Well I was floored on the cadence of this book from the minute I opened it. Bucky is not one to ease into a topic. I would say he goes from 1 to 100 quickly, but actually he skips right over that and starts at 100. Then from 100 to 10,000 in a few sentences and off into space and clears the limits of the known universe over the course a single chapter. Be prepared for a ride. Hold on tight and keep your head down. Bucky moves at light speed and does not slow down for anyone.
The book is a interesting overview of the history of Humans on earth and their typical flawed ways of living along with a expansive declaration of how a myriad of things from our ideas of what true wealth is to an intriguing idea of synergy and global collaboration could be the key to finding a sustainable future for all of mankind.
