Buckminster Fuller's Reflexive Modernism

Abstract

ABSTRACTThrough his design of the United States Pavilion at Expo 67 and other projects, Buckminster Fuller has become a reference point for a range of contemporary approaches to sustainable development and design. By examining the Pavilion and an unpublished 1939 manuscript, “Ballistics of Civilization,” in conjunction with the sociological theory of reflexive modernization, this article reconstructs the reflexive modernism through which Fuller aspired to chart a more sustainable course for humanity. While Fuller intended his “comprehensive anticipatory design science” to maximize human welfare by achieving technocratic efficiencies through libertarian and market-based mechanisms, his alignment with the armed forces and the United States Information Agency during the Cold War subordinated many of his progressive ambitions to a technocratic nationalism. This history suggests that as artists, architects, and designers draw on Fuller's legacy to reshape the ways we think and practice sustainability, we should prioritize modes of reflexivity that employ reflection and deliberation over those that automate what are ultimately political decisions.