R. Buckminster Fuller 1895–1983
Architect, designer, inventor, geometrician, educator—Richard Buckminster ‘Bucky’ Fuller was a global forward-thinker and accomplished individual. Over the course of his career, he strove to improve the quality of human life through efficient design principles or as he described, “doing more with less.”
He was born in 1895 to a distinguished New England family known to be non-conformists. Fuller never received a formal education and was dismissed from Harvard University twice. It was during his time in the U.S. Navy that his aptitude for engineering soared. He invented a device that sped the recovery time of downed airplanes presenting him the opportunity for officer training at the U.S. Naval Academy. There he developed a new method of reinforcing concrete buildings, the first of his 28 patents, a concept that helped him realize his calling to serve humanity through inventive, sustainable housing. In 1927, Fuller invented the Dymaxion House, a modular apartment building, which could be easily built at low-cost and airlifted to its location. Following this pioneering design, he created a series of streamlined inventions from cars to bathrooms.
Auction Results R. Buckminster Fuller
R. Buckminster Fuller
Geodesic Tensegrity Sphere, 120 Strut, 4 Frequency Dome
estimate: $30,000–50,000
result: $30,000
R. Buckminster Fuller
Dymaxion blueprints
estimate: $20,000–30,000
result: $19,050
R. Buckminster Fuller
Inventions: Twelve Around One portfolio (twelve works)
estimate: $15,000–20,000
result: $17,500
R. Buckminster Fuller
Complex of Jitterbugs
estimate: $5,000–7,000
result: $13,200
R. Buckminster Fuller
Single-cell Jitterbug
estimate: $4,000–5,000
result: $9,375
R. Buckminster Fuller
6-Strut Tensegrity
estimate: $4,000–5,000
result: $9,375
R. Buckminster Fuller
Geodesic Home model
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $7,500
R. Buckminster Fuller
Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $7,500
R. Buckminster Fuller
30 Strut, 3 Frequency (3v) Geodesic Tensegrity Sculpture Dome
estimate: $7,000–9,000
result: $7,500
R. Buckminster Fuller
Jitterbug Atom
estimate: $1,500–2,000
result: $7,200
R. Buckminster Fuller
Dymaxion Airocean World Map poster
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $5,313
R. Buckminster Fuller
30 Strut, 3 Frequency (3v) Geodesic Tensegrity Sculpture Dome
estimate: $5,000–7,000
result: $5,000
R. Buckminster Fuller
Single-cell Jitterbug
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $5,000
R. Buckminster Fuller
Jitterbug Atom
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result: $4,688
R. Buckminster Fuller
collection of ephemera
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result: $3,750
R. Buckminster Fuller
Jitterbug Atom
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $3,480