Fuller, Richard Buckminster Lot n° 67015

Richard Buckminster Fuller (American, 1895-1983) Twenty-One Foot Fuller Radome with Stationary Venturi Ventilator, 1954 Pencil on paper 28 x 36 inches (71.1 x 91.4 cm) (sheet) PROVENANCE: Max Protetch Gallery, New York. EXHIBITION HISTORY: Max Protetch Gallery, New York, 1987. Numerous other works by the artist housed in permanent public and private collections, such as the MoMA, the Dallas Museum of Art, and Oregon State University. The geodesic dome was first designed by German engineer Walther Bauersfeld after World War I and then popularized by American inventor and self-proclaimed "comprehensive anticipatory design scientist" Richard Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller two decades later. Fuller, who coined the term "geodesic" following experiments with artist Kenneth Snelson at Black Mountain College in the late 1940s, received United States patent no. 2,682,235 for the structure on June 29, 1954. The present drawing, dated mere months after the patent was issued, includes the patent number to the bottom right corner. It presents an exterior elevation view of a 21-foot radome – an enclosed, waterproof structure that protects a radar antenna from the elements – in the form of a geodesic dome with its characteristic lattice-like facets and the addition of a Venturi ventilator – rendered from above and the side to the right of the radome. HID10801242017