The results are in for the Annual Buckminster Fuller Design Challenge. The winning designs include robo-scooters, biocentres, and a "future map".
"The annual Buckminster Fuller Design Challenge awards $100,000 to a visionary design project, one that can be inserted into a failing system to do no less than accelerate the transition to an equitable and sustainable future. In his book on the condition of man, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, Fuller wrote that: "If you are in a shipwreck and all the boats are gone, a piano top buoyant enough to keep you afloat makes a fortuitous life preserver. But this is not to say that the best way to design a life preserver is in the form of a piano top." Today more than ever, it has become clear that much of the technology, design, and systems in use in our everyday lives?-?from our transportation system and our power grid to the way we build our homes and think about sanitation ?-?is a sea of piano tops. Fuller called for a different approach to problem solving, which he called "comprehensive anticipatory design science," that utilized systems thinking and scientific rigor with faithful reliance on nature's underlying principles."
FULL STORY: The Dymaxion Tomorrow
Urban Design for Sustainability
The way we build cities can have significant impacts on public health and equity.
Pioneering Net-Zero Building Opens in Unlikely Location
To find Oregon's first energy-neutral building, you'll have to venture 45 minutes outside progressive Portland to the Willamette Valley town of Newberg. There you'll find a first step in an effort to change our physical and cultural environments.
Unique "Bucky Dome" On View
One of the few remaining prototypes for Buckminster Fuller's "autonomous dwelling machine" - a 24 ft geodesic dome - has been restored and is on view now in Miami's Design District.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.
Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.
Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.
MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.
Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie