Pictured: 1913 Alfa Romeo Castagna Aerodinamica
This Thursday is the opening of The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit: “The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller.” They called a few months ago, wanting to interview me on my experiences with Bucky. I told them it would be a negative interview, to wit: 1. Fuller did not invent the geodesic dome; the first geodesic dome was built in Jena, Germany in 1922, designed by Dr. Walter Bauersfeld. Fuller secured a patent in 1954, and always claimed he was the inventor. (Full story on pp. 180-81 of Shelter.)
2. Nor did Fuller invent the tensegrity sphere or the tensegrity mast, both of which he claimed credit for. They were invented by a student of his at Black Mountain College, artist Kenneth Snelson.
3. His Dymaxion car was obviously based on the 1913 Alfa Romeo Castagna Aerodinamica.
4. I was an early fan, but as time passed, I became disillusioned with Fuller and pretty much all of his concepts. Don’t get me started.
So they filmed me expressing these admittedly negative views, and it apparently will be part of the exhibit, from March 31-July 29, 2012 at SFMOMA, 151 3rd St., SF. I like to accentuate the positive, but sometimes it’s just not possible.
Yesterday I spent 2 hours at the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Spring Gathering in San Francisco. I signed and gave away 50 copies of Tiny Homes to various booksellers. It’s wonderful to be in a room completely filled with book people.
This Wednesday I’m doing a slide show/ book signing for Tiny Homes at City Lights Bookstore (7PM, Wed., March 28, 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco).
Just sorting through my notes from the past few weeks, this is a company in Oakland, California, that designs homes, but also has a series of small buildings (144 sq. ft. and larger) featuring salvaged wood and modular construction
“RIKYU House blends the elegance and sensitivity of traditional Japanese design with a sincere and holistic commitment to green building. Through a patented building system enabling custom design and the use of standardized parts, RIKYU House is aesthetically beautiful, environmentally conscious, and affordable.”
https://www.joinerystructures.com/
Hello Lloyd,
…I was first introduced by my husband 12 years ago to your work. One day I plan on building a home of my own with my own hands.
Anyway, I thought you might like this picture I took a couple years ago while on vacation in Panama. We were staying in Playon Chico, this is a tiny island nearby that I think was no longer lived in when I took this. It is the most beautiful and peaceful place I’ve ever been, full of kind and wonderful people.
Hope you’re well, thanks for all you do,
Caitlin and Shannon
“…This remodel was completed using all reclaimed materials. This small house was first built in the 1940s. Since then it has been through a lot. From a goose-check station, to rental house, and now this wonderful remodel.
Photos by Lincoln Barbour/tiny house design by Jessica Helgerson…”
https://shltr.net/tnyhome40s
Not tiny, not cheap, but nice.
“…Built in 1907 and almost untouched since, this Craftsman Style cottage hasn’t been on the market in five decades, and yes, it needs some serious updating, but at least you won’t have to rip our someone else’s misguided attempts. While there’s no indication from the realtor who the architect might have been, the carpenters of this 4-bed, 1.5-bath house deserve some credit as well.
Inside, box beams, paneling and built-in cabinets in redwood, from trees we’ll never see the likes of again, and two pantries– on serving the dining room, and another with a vintage icebox from a time when ice was delivered in blocks by a man with a horse and cart. Three fireplaces, and in addition to two bedrooms down, there are two wonderful rooms upstairs…
2821 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, $729K…” https://shltr.net/berkcrafts
One of the featured sections in Tiny Homes is this demolition/construction company near Austin, Texas, today written up on the inhabitat.com website: “Based out of Luling, Texas, Brad Kittel has been working in the salvage mining and building business for 30 years and for the last five years or so has been practicing “pure salvage building”. Kittel and his crew deconstruct and salvage old buildings, mining them for materials that they turn into tiny, handcrafted homes. Tiny Texas Homes are rustic, smartly designed and efficiently built in their factory before being delivered to your site.…”
https://shltr.net/ttexonroad
If you grew up in San Francisco long enough ago, you knew Laughing Sal, now in her new home on the Santa Cruz boardwalk:
This Thursday is the opening of The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit: “The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller.” They called a few months ago, wanting to interview me on my experiences with Bucky. I told them it would be a negative interview, to wit: 1. Fuller did not invent the geodesic dome; the first geodesic dome was built in Jena, Germany in 1922, designed by Dr. Walter Bauersfeld. Fuller secured a patent in 1954, and always claimed he was the inventor. (Full story on pp. 180-81 of Shelter.)
