Founded in 1983, The Buckminster Fuller Institute serves a global network of design science innovators working at the leading edge to "make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone".

We offer educational programs, publications, initiatives and tools to help further the design science revolution Fuller inspired. Our constituency crosses disciplinary boundaries and includes people working in the fields of the art, architecture, design, education, engineering, information technology, economics, mathematics, science, and systems theory.

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BFI's CALL TO ACTION

Buckminster Fuller challenged us with a bold vision: "To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone."

The know-how and tools from a rapidly growing design revolution are available today to enable all people to achieve a quality standard of living while sustaining the health of our planet's ecosystems. Nevertheless, humanity is on an accelerating course headed toward overwhelming the present carrying capacity of the planet.

It is therefore of utmost urgency that our initiative be directed toward assisting and serving individuals, organizations and communities to address the vital and achievable design project that Fuller anticipated and humans now face.

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WHAT WE DO

The Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) serves as a catalyst for the design and implementation of breakthrough strategies for achieving a sustainable future.

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FULFILLING BFI'S MISSION

We fulfill our mission by offering innovative programs that:

• Utilize BFI's Information Clearinghouse on the pioneering legacy of R. Buckminster Fuller.
• Provide a global perspective on the most pressing issues facing humanity.
• Engage leading thinkers and designers who are demonstrating whole systems solutions to complex problems.
• Provide the opportunity to design and test those solutions in the real world.

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The following is an excerpt from imprint, a publication of 'The associates of the Stanford University Libraries' by Joshua Arnow:

An Experiment is launched

When Bucky's daughter Allegra and his grandson Jaime founded the Institute in 1983, it was amidst a great deal of uncertainty. The passing of Fuller that year created what seemed like a huge void. What arose from that void were serious questions that weighed heavily on all those contemplating the formation of an institute. Questions like -- Could the void be filled? What should it be filled with and by whom? From this broad inquiry a central question emerged; would the extent of interest in Fuller the man and his work benefit by the existence of an educational institute? The hypothesis of the founding board members was that it would.

The formation of the institute included the role of BFI serving as the custodian for Fuller's remarkable archive. Soon after we set up shop in a converted warehouse in LA, we began fielding a steady flow of inquiries from those deeply touched by Bucky's teachings and many sought access to the archive for its inspiration and unique imagery.

In responding to this demand we evolved into an educational clearinghouse focused on Fuller's Design Science principles. Our services included informative newsletters that kept a pulse on the more with less design revolution, lectures, discussion groups, workshops, film/video showings, accredited course instruction, dome raisings, publication of maps and globes using the Fuller Projection, sale of educational materials, volunteer/intern training, research and networking support.

In the 1980's, BFI developed four ACE accredited courses for Pacific Bell Corporation's Telesis Management Institute based on Fuller's "strategies for effective individual initiative". Entitled the Dymaxion Laboratory, the courses were presented by BFI to more than 4000 Pac Bell employees in over 300 classes around California throughout a 7 year period.

The Archive and BFI

For 16 years, caring for and sharing the Archive with the public became the focus of many projects. These included providing access to researchers, curators and to a number of authors writing books about Bucky. In addition, BFI produced numerous exhibits in its own gallery space and several traveling exhibits. Planning for the most extensive use of the archive commenced in 1995. Claude Lichtenstein, Curator of the Museum fur Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland, and Dr. Joachim Krausse, Professor of Design History at Fachhochschule Anhalt in Dessau, Germany traveled to BFI's offices in Santa Barbara, California for what would be the first of numerous visits over the course of three years to the Fuller Archive. R. Buckminster Fuller: Your Private Sky: the art of design science, as the exhibition they assembled came to be entitled, opened in Zurich in June of 1999. Drawing upon over 1200 pieces from the Fuller Archive, the 14,000 square foot museum exhibition made five other stops across Europe and three stops in Japan.

Even though the legacy of Fuller's Archive was central to our identity for so many years, the advent of the internet triggered an organizational transformation. We began to see that digital media and the web could provide a quantum leap in our ability to provide access to the essence of Fuller's approach to solving global problems and that there were institutions far better equipped to preserve, display and provide public access to Bucky's physical papers than we were. In 1997 a search began to find a new home for the Fuller Archive which happily concluded in 1999 with the selection of the renowned Stanford University Library.

Post Archive Transformation of BFI

Part of this transformation involved the realization that without the archive at its core, BFI would ultimately need to update its mission to go beyond Fuller the man and concentrate more on what he was trying to demonstrate- that through doing more with less we have "the option to make it on board spaceship earth". Maximizing our effectiveness would require ramping up our clearinghouse to a new level, developing new educational tools and facilitating projects that were anticipatory, comprehensive, and based on principle. Our work would have to reflect what we were in a unique position to do and not attempt to duplicate the efforts of others. Adhering to these standards has indeed proven to be a daunting but rewarding challenge -- a challenge at the root of an experimental initiative that has spanned two decades and in many ways is only just beginning.

Hindsight reveals that two powerful forces have served as our guide along this unique path; first a powerful intuition that the work Bucky pioneered - his philosophy, design principles and system strategies are essential to humanity's success and second an enduring faith that there is a meaningful place in the world for an organization dedicated to facilitating the evolution and application of this work. The continued interest, energy and resources we've received over the years confirms our intuition and reinforces our faith in BFI's mission - - to catalyze awareness and action toward realizing humanity's option for success. If there was ever a time that underscores the relevance of this mission and clarifies what Bucky meant by "Earthian's critical moment", this is it. Finding ourselves at the threshold of 'Utopia or Oblivion' only strengthens the resolve of our small, highly dedicated and well-networked team, to accelerate the work we do:

• Empowering people to see the big picture trends and choices affecting our future.
• Educating people about the design principles, strategies and solutions for achieving ecologically sustainable success for all humanity.
• Connecting people to the leading projects, thinkers and organizations who are applying design science solutions locally to global problems.