Buckminster Fuller Institute’s Post

INFINITE DESIGN How can we support diverse landscapes and cultures as they work out their own ways to reintegrate our species into a pluriverse of millions of species within a vast, self-regulating, self-organizing planetary matrix known as Gaia? --- On October 25th, 2025, The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS) in Austin, Texas will celebrate its 50th Anniversary as one of the world's leading research centers for innovative building materials and systems, lifecycle analysis (LCA), bioregional design and planning, and related fields. Congratulations to Co-Directors Pliny Fisk III and Gail Vittori and CMPBS staff, board, and interns as they shepherd CMPBS into its next fifty years! 🌟 Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration Details: https://lnkd.in/giH467Rp As part of a book honoring this occasion, I have shared some thoughts on CMPBS' vitally important contributions in the broader context of bioregional praxis and planning in the essay "Lenses for Infinite Design". Full text below and excerpts here: ____ For fifty years, CMPBS has been testing ecological design and planning protocols, policies, and prototypes at scales from building to planet. This includes significant work at the bioregional scale, a perfect scale to align cultural transformation with coherent groupings of ecosystems shaped by water, soil, climate, topography, geology, nutrient flows, and other influences. Now in 2025 there is growing momentum around a federated, decentralized response to the polycrisis that is centered around empowering territories, landscapes, and bioregions with protocols for regenerative storying, mapping, modeling, planning, governing, and financing. --- We now need to complement geospatial data with a new generation of bioregional modeling and planning tools that can accommodate dozens of regenerative solutions pathways (e.g. from Project Drawdown or One Earth’s Solutions Framework) side by side with indigenous knowledge systems in a visual, intuitive environment that is accessible to all. Imagine radically participatory processes for citizens to plan the futures of their cherished neighborhoods, watersheds, cities, and bioregions or ancestral territories. --- Now imagine the Lenses for Maximum Potential Futures supported by a new kind of Artificial Intelligence, one that is Life-Centered ... Forty-one years after its founding, Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) is exploring this infinite design terrain, a strange and unexpected symbiosis of human, ecological, and digital intelligences. It is a marvelous thing that the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems continues with a vital life force after fifty years, and BFI looks forward to spontaneously collaborating with the Center over the next five decades in the service of life.

Did you know that 71% of Earth's surface is water? Imagine the new job sectors and sustainable living techniques if we moved below the waves! 🌊 - Innovative architecture - New energy sources - Marine biology opportunities Let's connect with more pioneers in this field. Ready to make a splash? Dive in! @BlueInnovation @OceanicEngage #SustainableLiving

If you think ESG is only about buildings on Earth, you are already behind. Imagine a skyscraper that does not stand on the ground but hangs from an asteroid moving around our planet. This is not science fiction. Clouds Architecture once proposed Analemma Tower - a concept of a building suspended from an orbiting asteroid at the height of 32,000 meters. It may sound impossible, yet such visions matter. They challenge us to rethink resources and design principles. Analemma Tower was imagined with solar panels, closed-loop water systems and even agricultural modules. Not because it was practical today but because it was a blueprint of resilience, self-sufficiency and sustainability. History shows that many technologies first described in futuristic projects later shaped our daily reality. Closed water cycles, vertical farming and energy independent systems were once radical. Today they are integrated into forward-looking developments across the globe. The lesson is clear: ESG in architecture tries to find ways for reducing emissions of existing buildings and preparing for a future where buildings are independent ecosystems, connected not only to the planet but potentially to space itself. I do not know whether Analemma Tower will ever be built. But for me the real question is: are we ready to embrace a mindset where sustainability reaches beyond Earth? Share your thoughts. Would you follow such a vision or stay grounded?

The violence of geometries Ecologies Beyond Boundaries: Natural, Artificial, and Hybrid Worlds 1. Ecologies of the Natural We often begin with the natural world when speaking of ecology: forests, rivers, oceans, soils, and the living networks that sustain them. These ecologies surround us, embed us, and make life possible. Yet instead of recognizing their porous, interconnected boundaries, we often attempt to contain them. We draw maps, impose property lines, and translate living rhythms into geometrical abstractions. The violence of this act lies in its reduction. What is open, flowing, and relational becomes closed, static, and objectified. The sense of awe and wonder that such living systems invite is extinguished when we reduce them to resources, units, or grids. 2. Ecologies of the Artificial Ecologies are not confined to the natural world. Human-made systems—cities, infrastructures, technologies, institutions—form ecologies of their own. They are artificial, but no less alive. A city is a living system of flows and exchanges; a digital platform is an ecology of algorithms, codes, behaviors, and cultural patterns. Yet here, too, we impose rigid geometries and taxonomies. Cities are zoned into sterile compartments; institutions are organized into hierarchies; knowledge systems are reduced to databases. Such orderings obscure the networks of interaction and improvisation that actually sustain these artificial ecologies. Jane Jacobs, in her reflections on urban life, argued that cities thrive not because of imposed design but because of their capacity for self-organization. Vitality emerges from interactions in the street, not from rigid zoning plans. Artificial ecologies, like natural ones, flourish when boundaries remain porous and relationships remain visible. 3. Ecologies of the Hybrid The distinction between the natural and the artificial is, in truth, less absolute than we imagine. Bruno Latour has argued that every artifact is a hybrid—an entanglement of human and nonhuman forces. A smartphone, for example, embodies minerals extracted from the earth, global supply chains, cultural practices, political economies, and individual desires. It is both natural and artificial, ecological through and through. Félix Guattari’s The Three Ecologies deepens this insight by insisting that environmental, social, and mental ecologies cannot be separated. A polluted river alters not just ecosystems but also social practices and cultural imaginations. Likewise, a new digital infrastructure reshapes mental habits, social relations, and environmental resource flows. Hybrid ecologies demand that we move beyond oppositions—nature versus culture, natural versus artificial—and instead attend to the interwoven networks in which we are always already embedded. 4. The Violence of Geometry interconnection. 5. Toward Ecological Design

#Architecture as a laboratory of the future — that’s exactly how #Biennale Architettura 2025 in Venice feels. 🌱 We are learning to cultivate again, not just to build; 🌍 We are designing not buildings, but relationships with the planet; ☄️ And here lies a chance to survive #globalwarming Today’s pavilions reveal something paradoxical yet essential: in the age of robots and #AI, we are returning to stone, wood, and even straw. Natural materials are back at the center. Honest, simple, renewable. They remind us: building sustainably means building in dialogue with nature! And alongside them — the laboratories of the future: ▫️ plants that “participate” in design; ▫️ algorithms that suggest how to reduce energy and waste; ▫️ pavilions conceived with repair and circularity in mind. In the context of global warming, these experiments sound like a call to action: ▫️ extract less, cultivate more; ▫️ destroy less, adapt more; ▫️ see architecture not as an object, but as part of an ecosystem. The future of the profession lies at the intersection of the ancient and the new: straw and AI, wood and robots, stone and digital algorithms. And perhaps it is precisely in this union that we can find the chance to save the planet! 🌍 #BiennaleArchitettura2025 #VeniceBiennale #FutureOfArchitecture #SustainableArchitecture #CircularDesign #ClimateAction #AIArchitecture #GreenBuilding #NaturalMaterials #Biodesign

I'm convinced Landscape Architects have been some of the biggest innovators in advocating for nature in the last 30+ years. 🧑🎨 🌳 Planting urban forest's before policy, 🦋 designing biodiversity corridors before UN gave their stamp, ☀️ tackling urban heat issues before heat officers were appointed in councils - all the time designing the issues beautifully. But proving that impact has always been hard. Now, with OPO’s AI, we can track canopy change over time: 🌳 Current Canopy: 15% 🔻 Loss: 20% 🔺 Gain: 27%” For the first time, it’s easy to see how individual projects improve or reduce tree canopy — and how they add to the urban forest over time. 👉 How are you currently measuring nature’s impact in your projects?

"Imagining Climate Engineering. Dreaming of the Designer Climate" by Jeroen Oomen was my last summer read. In my view, anyone engaging with #climatechange in the context of #culture should read it. While arts and cultural sector is often tasked with imagining #alternative #futures, this book explains in very concrete terms what role geoengineering might play in that process. It sets out the historical context, from rainmaking rituals 🌧️ to the scope of possibilities opened up by new technologies 🤖 . #Geoengineering, so often perceived at first glance as a negative endeavour because it intervenes "even more" in Earth’s systems, here emerges as a field of #vision and #creativity. Following the critical insights of the author, I’m not seeking to judge how it is, but I do know this: expecting only “visions” from the cultural sector risks instrumentalising it. Cultural institutions need clear political frameworks, tools and actions in order not to become mere archives of dreams, but places of genuine change. Congratulations to the author, and thanks to ZHAW Center for Arts Management for always providing access to books that broaden my understanding of sustainable cultural management.

🌍 Clean Air, Smarter Futures 🌬️ Today, on Clean Air Day (7 September), I want to reflect on how research and innovation in architecture and environmental science can contribute to healthier and more resilient urban environments. My recent published works focus on the relationship between glazing design, energy consumption, and occupant comfort — addressing how the way we design our buildings directly influences both energy performance and indoor environmental quality. These studies, alongside several ongoing publications, are part of my broader path of integrating architecture, environmental science, and technology at the starting points of my academic life. "https://lnkd.in/d2K6Kt2Q" Looking ahead, I see AI and smart systems as powerful tools to bridge these fields. From optimizing building energy use to predicting microclimatic impacts, data-driven approaches are opening new opportunities to design spaces that are not only efficient but also supportive of cleaner air and healthier living. 💡 Clean air is not just an environmental right — it is also a design responsibility. By combining technology, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration, we can reimagine the built environment as an active force for positive change. #CleanAirDay #Architecture #EnvironmentalScience #AI #EnergyEfficiency #OccupantComfort #SmartBuildings #EnergyConsciousSolutions

Nature has already designed the future of our cities. Forests regulate temperature and capture carbon. Wetlands filter water. Coral reefs create thriving communities. What if our built environment could do the same? This October, we’re hosting a 4-week live course that explores how nature’s 3.8 billion years of innovation can guide regenerative solutions for architecture, cities, and infrastructure. Led by Amanda Sturgeon, FAIA, CEO of The Biomimicry Institute, with guest experts including Janine Benyus and Michael Pawlyn. Together, we’ll unpack how biophilic, bio-based, and biomimetic approaches can reshape the sector. AskNature Learning: Nature Positive Buildings Mondays at 1:00pm PST | October 13 - Nov 3 $350 | Eligible for AIA LU Elective credit (self-reported) No biomimicry experience needed; just a commitment to a Nature Positive future. Register now: https://lnkd.in/gzFvpk77 Tag a colleague in design or sustainability who needs to know about this. #RegenerativeDesign #Biomimicry #AskNatureLearning #AskNature #SustainableArchitecture #NaturePositive #NatureInspired #GreenBuilding #BuiltEnvironment #NatureBasedSolutions #SustainableDevelopment #Resilient Cities

☀ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 - 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝟭𝟯 ☀ 🌊 How can we design coastal defenses that are both strong and ecological? Within DuneFront, researchers from Universiteit Gent (Salwa belhadi, Nele De Belie and 𝗞𝗶𝗺 𝗩𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗺) have developed a novel eco-dike prototype that combines: 🔹 3D-printed bioreceptive materials that support vegetation and biodiversity 🔹 Complex geometries designed to trap sand and dissipate wave energy 🔹 A modular, interlocking design that makes construction scalable and adaptable The prototype will soon be tested at the De Panne demonstrator site (Belgium), where it will be compared with traditional revetments and commercial alternatives. This marks an important step toward nature-based, climate-resilient infrastructure for Europe’s coasts. 📄 Read more on our website: https://lnkd.in/eFjfV9mS