Dymaxion Design aka Dynamic Design

Introducing 'Dymaxion Design' 

 

The word "Dymaxion" is a portmanteau, or combination, of the words dynamic, maximum, and ion used to brand a series of inventions by Buckminster Fuller. These very peculiar inventions included:

♦ Dymaxion House

♦ Dymaxion Car

♦ Dymaxion Map

♦ Dymaxion Chronofile

Both the Dymaxion house and car feature elements of streamlining in their design. They also epitomized Buckminster Fuller’s term “ephemerialization” – doing more for less, eventually getting to the point of doing everything for nothing.

                            

The Dymaxion Car - which seated up to 11 people and made roughly 30 miles per gallon - better than most cars manufactured today. 

 Dymaxion car video  - Designed by Buckminster Fuller. 

                                        

Dymaxion Dwelling Machine (1944): Wichita House Prototype

They Dymaxion Dwelling Machine was the prototype from which the Wichita House was built. Fuller designed the home so that it had a changeable floor plan to suit the needs of every user, which was taken advantage of and gone beyond in the construction of the Wichita House.

Painting of the Dymaxion House by Anne Hewlett Fuller.

The Dymaxion Dwelling Machine had a circular floor plan (as opposed to the earlier hexagonal). It had bands of windows on thin-skinned walls, an airspace between the ground and the main floor, and a ventilator on its roof. Its main shape was domed, creating a structure that reduced the need of materials. Its round corners, like in the Dymaxion bathroom, maximized sanitation by ensuring optimal cleaning and stopping bacteria from being trapped in corners.

The housed weighed 3000 pounds (in comparison to the earlier 6000), even though its size did not greatly decrease from that of other, previous Dymaxion homes.

Buckmister Fuller Illustration 

References:

       

 Dymasion Design Videos:  YouTube. 2014. VID_0120: DYMAXION CAR - Designed by Buckminster                                               Fuller - YouTube.

                                          [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOhOwk_6ziQ. 

                                          [Accessed 02 February 2014].

                                       YouTube. 2014. Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion Car, House and Geodesic Dome                                         [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLkluGwyRv8. 

                                      [Accessed 02 February 2014].

                          Dymaxion House | The Buckminster Fuller Institute.

                         [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bfi.org/about-fuller/big-ideas/dymaxion-                                                world/dymaxion-house. 

                         [Accessed 02 February 2014].