Ephemeralization as Environmentalism: Rereading R. Buckminster Fuller’s Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth

Abstract

This study critically surveys the environmental thinking and design philosophy Of R. Buckminster Fuller by revisiting two of his major theoretical works, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth and Utopia or Oblivion. It highlights Fuller’s fascination with economic efficiency and environmental justice in his own pursuit of the practices of industrial design, urban planning, and vernacular engineering. In addition, the analysis stresses how the optimism and energy that Fuller gave to rethinking environmentalism so radically during the 1960s are vital qualities that contemporary green thinkers need to rekindle in their works today.

Keywords

Sustainability green design ephemeralization ecological economics environmentalism

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