Re-cap of the 2017 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Ceremony and Symposium

NEW YORK CITY (November 17, 2017) – The 2017 conferring ceremony and a symposium to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (BFC) was a very inspiring and successful capstone to the first phase of this renowned program. The new design research lab a/d/o hosted the events at their beautiful venue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

On the evening of Friday, November 10th, Trupti Jain and Biplabketan Paul, Co-Founders of the Sustainable Green Initiative Forum, received the 2017 grand prize of $100,000 and the OmniOculi sculpture for their work with Bhungroo. Two runners-up were each honored with an OmniOculi sculpture. Matthew Barron, program officer for the Heinz Family Fund and first BFC program manager, presented the sculpture to Lucilla and Jonathan Marvel, who represented Martín Peña Community Land Trust as members of the board. Alexander Eaton, CEO of Sistema Biobolsa, also accepted a runner-up prize.

Author and sustainability education expert Andres Edwards – also a long-time BFC review team member – honored the three 2017 finalists: KTK-BELT’s Vertical University Project (represented by Co-Founder Rajeev Goyal), Net-Works (represented by Nick Hill and Miriam Turner of the Zoological Society of London and Jon Khoo of Interface), and OpenAQ (represented by Co-Founders Chris Hapenkopf and Joe Flasher). The finalists, runners-up, and winners all made brief remarks to the audience about their work. The evening included the release of the 2017 Fuller Challenge video by Whirlwind Creative.

Guests packed the venue and represented the diversity of the Buckminster Fuller Institute’s (BFI) broad network of supporters: architects, designers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, educators, artists, scientists, and more. The audience enjoyed the opportunity to connect over drinks and food, and were inspired by an hour-long program of remarks from: Allegra Fuller Snyder, daughter of R. Buckminster Fuller, as well as the Fuller Challenge team: Founding Director Elizabeth Thompson and Program Manager Megan Ahearn. The evening concluded with remarks from BFI’s new leadership team, led by Executive Director Amanda Ravenhill, sharing their vision for the Institute’s future.

On Saturday, November 11th, a day-long symposium took place at a/d/o, gathering representatives from all 10 winners of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge since 2007. Greg Watson of the Schumacher Center for New Economics opened the day with a keynote address. The past winners participated in panel discussions moderated by design thought leaders such as Susan Szenasy of Metropolis Magazine and Andrew Revkin of the New York Times. The symposium comprised five themed panels: “The Design Revolution”, “Aquatic Ecosystems”, “Terrestrial Ecosystems”, “Urban Systems”, and “Resilience Strategies”.

The symposium was followed by a two-hour reception at a/d/o. Many of the past winners, advisors, jurors, finalists, and members of BFI’s network found linkages between their work. The weekend concluded with a sense of hope and inspiration.