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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

-0001

1958

  • Work on this object began.

2019

2025

  • You found it!

Book Illustration, Buckminster Fuller, Geodesic Dome Construction, figure 1 and 2

This is a book illustration. It was written by R. Buckminster Fuller. It is dated 1958. Its medium is quadrat print. It is a part of the Smithsonian Libraries department.

In Buckminster Fuller’s own words, “the forms we see in geodesic structures are synergetic, which is to say that they are visible in mathematical principle only and only as the result of the interaction of a complex of functions.” He argues that no individual industrial function is visible because any structural member of a geodesic dome can be in tension at one time and in compression at another. These opposite actions and reactions are invisible as the dome itself “remain[s] poised apparently serene in a hurricane.” Thus, both form and function are invisible

It is credited Collection of Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

Our curators have highlighted 2 objects that are related to this one.

  • "Verdino" Birdcage
  • glass, brass, plexiglass.
  • Gift of Göran F. Holmquist.
  • 1965-50-1-a/tt

Its dimensions are

H x W: 25 × 25 cm (9 13/16 × 9 13/16 in.)

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/68776043/ |title=Book Illustration, Buckminster Fuller, Geodesic Dome Construction, figure 1 and 2 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=12 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>