International Conference
September 28-30, 2012
Thematic Focus: Looking Forward at Buckminster Fuller’s Legacy
The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, along with the Buckminster Fuller Institute and the University of North Carolina at Asheville, will present a 3-day conference exploring Buckminster Fuller’s Legacy, including his forward-thinking work during the two summers he was at Black Mountain College (1948 & 1949), his innovative work in architecture, engineering and design science in the decades after BMC, and the work of those who are carrying his ideas forward into the future. In addition to panels and presentations, the conference will include an experiential Design Science Day held outdoors on the UNC Asheville campus on Saturday, September 29th.
In conjunction with the conference, the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center will collaborate with the Buckminster Fuller Institute to present an exhibition that explores the new generation of Fuller-inspired thinkers, artists and problem-solvers via The Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an award given annually by BFI to a project that addresses a planetary problem with an elegant, whole systems-based solution. The exhibition will also include some of Fuller’s own inventive designs for solutions to the many needs he saw on “Spaceship Earth.”
Buckminster Fuller Play at NC Stage
To coincide with the conference, North Carolina Stage Company is presenting a play called R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe. Written by D.W. Jacobs and performed by David Novak, the play is a mesmerizing autobiographical monologue, inspired by Fuller’s own writing. NC Stage is Asheville’s professional theatre, located in downtown Asheville just three blocks from the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. There will be a specially scheduled performance for conference attendees on Sunday September 30th at 7:30pm. Tickets are also available for all performances, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2:00pm.
Design Science Day
Saturday, Sept. 29th Noon – 6:00pm
As part of a weekend conference devoted to inventor/designer Buckminster Fuller’s legacy there will be a free, hands-on Design Science Day on Saturday, Sept. 29th from Noon – 6:00pm on UNC Asheville’s A.C. Reynolds Green (behind Ramsey Library). Free and open to the public, the all-ages Design Science Day will feature an experiential program of activities inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s “Big Ideas” including a bamboo dome, hands-on geometry projects, movement workshops, a theatrical magic show, participatory performance and much more. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Keynote Speaker: Allegra Fuller Snyder, daughter of Buckminster Fuller; Director Emerita of the Buckminster Fuller Institute; Professor Emerita of Dance and Dance Ethnology, UCLA
Featured Speaker: Jason McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council; author of the Living Building Challenge, winner of the 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge
Featured Speaker: Joseph D. Clinton, President of Clinton International Design Consultants; Synergetics Collaborative; associate of Buckminster Fuller
Featured Speaker: Mel Chin, conceptual visual artist
Featured Speaker: David McConville, media artist; President of the Buckminster Fuller Institute
