Designed for the Future book features Fuller’s Dymaxion Map

The Dymaxion Map is featured in Designed for the Future: 80 Practical Ideas for a Sustainable World by Jared Green, published by Princeton Architectural Press, 2015. Save 30% (plus free shipping in the U.S.) when you purchase Designed for the Future from papress.com. Enter promo code GREEN at checkout. The following is an excerpt from the book:

 

BUCKMINSTER FULLER’S DYMAXION MAP

MARIA AIOLOVA

 

Create a continuous flow of energy between all continents.
 


 

Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Map is a projection that unfolded the world to reveal that all the continents are interconnected. This map, created in 1943, shows that it is conceivable to create a continuous flow of energy and resources between all continents.

 

Projecting into the future, the map can be used to envision a global energy grid supplying new energy from the sun during the day and thermal sources at night. Energy can then be moved to wherever it’s most needed in the world.

 

Fuller’s thinking still applies today. The ideas have not changed, but the technology is now available. We can connect every energy source around the world. Offshore wind turbines in the North Sea could be linked to photovoltaic arrays in sub-Saharan Africa. Together, these two energy sources could power all of Europe.

 

The Dymaxion Map shows us a global way of thinking, a new way of conceiving the world. Through the theories developed by Buckminster Fuller, we can redirect energy resources to high population areas, the place where energy is most needed. We can also reach all those places urban planners have forgotten.

 

Maria Aiolova is cofounder of Terreform ONE and academic director for Global Architecture and Design at CIEE.