Buckminster Fuller

Norberto L pez Amado and Carlos Carcas' terrific-looking documentary traces the career of prolific English architect Norman Foster from his humble origins in Manchester, UK, to the top of his profession, visits some of his most iconic structures, and explores how the Mozart of Modernism has been influenced by the world of art in his designs. Alternating soaring, sensuous aerial and interior cinematography of landmark projects (including the Hearst Tower in NYC, the Faber and Dumas offices in Ipswich, England, the Millau Viaduct in Gorges du Tarn, France, the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong, the reconstruction of the Reichstag in Berlin, the Great Court of London's British Museum and Terminal 3 of the Beijing airport, the largest building on the planet), expert talking heads commentary, and interviews with the man himself, the film outlines the major turning points in Foster's life. After a first firm formed with Yale classmate Richard Rogers dissolved, Foster progressed into socially utopian industrial architecture. Sharing his visionary friend Buckminster Fuller's philosophy of more for less, Foster soon earned acclaim for his spare, expressive designs and new ways of dealing with materials. As his practice went global, he moved beyond individual buildings to create entire urban living environments, including Masdar in Abu Dhabi, which is designed to be the first zero waste, zero carbon-footprint city in the world, complete with driver-less vehicles and elevated walkways.

Co-curators Dana Miller and Michael Hays discuss Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe, an exhibition featuring one of the great American visionaries of the twentieth century. Utilizing his doing 'more with less' credo, Fuller's designs endeavored to benefit the largest portion of humanity while consuming the minimum amount of the earth's resources. This video presents four examples of Fuller's integrated approach to the design and technology of housing, transportation, and cartography --the Dymaxion House, ca. 1930, Dymaxion Transport Vehicle, ca.1933 , Wichita House, ca. 1945, and The Fuller Projection Map, ca. 1943.

Greetings Design Revolutionaries! Bucky had it right. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. That s why we re awarding a $100,000 prize each year for comprehensive solutions that radically advance human well-being and ecosystem health. The 2008 prize will be conferred to Dr. John Todd on June 23rd in NYC. STEP UP TO THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE. JOIN THE VANGUARD OF THE DESIGN REVOLUTION. Learn more at http://bfi.org and http://challenge.bfi.org The 2009 Challenge begins this Fall. Stay tuned... To find out more about the projects featured in this movie, please visit: http://bfi.org/our_programs/the_buckminster_fuller_challenge/the_buckminster_fuller_challenge_see_the_movie

The World of Buckminster Fuller -- The World of Buckminster Fuller