Competitions
07.10.15
San Francisco
The finalists of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2015 engage in a variety of topics from new energy technologies to social projects to planning software.
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The finalists of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2015 engage in a variety of topics from new energy technologies to social projects to planning software. Find the finalists below:
Finalists 2015
Algae Systems
Inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s assertion that “pollution is nothing but resources we’re not harvesting,” Algae Systems uses a closed-loop, systemic approach to generate value from wastewater, providing a crucial, economically and environmentally sustainable service.
Community Architects Network
The Community Architects Network operates by their motto: “Let the people be the solution,” seeking to empower people throughout Asia to become the designers of their own development.
Drylands Resilience Initiative and HAZEL
The Drylands Resilience Initiative has produced HAZEL, a powerful digital modeling tool that supports coordinated, scenario-based whole systems thinking and decision-making for water-smart urban design.
GreenWave
GreenWave is a non-profit organization working to restore ocean ecosystems and transform fishers, our last ocean hunters, into restorative ocean farmers and stewards of their local waters.
Mahila Housing SEWA Trust
Mahila Housing SEWA Trust creates a unique socio-technical partnership between communities and stakeholders, integrating traditional knowledge with modern technologies in order to devise multi-layered solutions to climate change impacts for poor urban dwellers.
The Nubian Vault Programme
Aiming to create comprehensive change in human livelihoods while addressing the critical need for housing across the Sahel region of Africa, the Nubian Vault Programme disseminates an ecologically sustainable, time-tested Nubian Vault construction technique.
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All Photos: Buckminster Fuller Institute
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge
Each year, The Buckminster Fuller Institute invites scientists, students, designers, architects, activists, entrepreneurs, artists and planners from all over the world to submit their innovative solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing problems. A 100.000 US-Dollar prize is awarded to support the development and implementation of one outstanding strategy.
“Design science is more than the application of engineering and technology. It is more than a plan or a design. Design science means the total responsibility and capability for development, production, and distribution – of not just a product – but a total service system on a worldwide basis.” – R. Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller led a prolific life of research, invention, writing and teaching. He developed a comprehensive systems approach to understanding complex global problems. By rigorously adhering to his unique set of “design science” principles, Fuller’s work embodies a deeply attuned ecological aesthetic. Fuller conceived and prototyped new strategies intended to enable all of humanity to live lives characterized by freedom, comfort and dignity without negatively impacting the earth’s ecosystems or regenerative ability. He emphasized that the technology and know-how already exist to successfully surmount our global challenges and advocated “doing more with less” by increasing the overall performance of every resource invested in a system.
Fuller issued an urgent call for a creative revolution to “make the world work for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” Answering this call is what the Fuller Challenge is all about.
Criteria
The Buckminster Fuller Institute searches for holistic strategies that answer urgent needs at multiple scales: from macro-strategies that have the potential for widespread, tangible impacts, to local, community-based initiatives with global relevance and replicability. The jury evaluates the entries in the following categories: Visionary, Comprehensive, Anticipatory, Ecologically Responsible, Feasible, Verifiable, Replicable. The winner will be announced in November during a Conferring Cermony in New York City.
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