The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art recently opened their Utopian Impulse exhibition, featuring the ground-breaking philosophy & influence of Buckminster Fuller. Memento is proud to have been asked to scan many historic slides and drawings for the exhibit. We then reproduced those using our new print-on-metal techniques. Visit the show to see shiny, crisp metallic renditions all around the exhibit.
“He was a charismatic outsider who really wasn’t accepted by the architectural establishment at the time,” says Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, SFMOMA’s assistant curator of architecture and design. “Yet his view has emerged as an emblem for ‘thinking differently,’ which is a starting point for many Bay Area initiatives.”
Fuller’s fearless, wide ranging thoughts brought us modernist concepts considered outlandish at the time, and now part of our everyday lives. In fact, I had no idea that the basic structure of almost every modern camping tent is based on Fuller’s Geodesic Dome concepts! Learn more about the history of the North Face Oval Intention, designed in 1976 by Fuller disciples.
So revered is Fuller in futurist & intellectual circles, one of the most important material types discovered in decades were named Fullerenes. Fullerenes include Carbon Nanotubes, Megatubes, Polymers (!) and Fullerene Rings. A specific Fullerene is the Bucky Ball, known specifically as Buckminsterfullerene.
Bucky Balls have amazing properties, both fun & serious. In addition to looking exactly like a soccer ball (hexagons & pentagons forming a sphere), they are superconducting at record-high temperatures.
Some other utopian visions influenced by Fuller, and presented at the exhibit include:
In addition to Plastiki and Morphosis’ new San Francisco Federal Building above, the exhibit presents Fuller’s impact on Stuart Brand (Whole Earth Catalog) and others. Creating a better future for all people ties all these themes together. And what finer motivation could there be?
Visit the exhibit to learn more:
SFMOMA 151 3rd St, San Francisco CA 94103
SFMOMA’s Architecture & Design Forum is a great way to get involved. The A + D Forum includes enthusiasts from around the bay area, who provide energy and gain special community and access to SFMOMA’s work in this area.
And let us know what you think about our metal prints!
More shots from the show:
