The famed architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller was born on this day in 1895. For a significant portion of his career, Fuller lived and taught in Illinois.

Richard Buckminster Fuller was born in his home state of Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. After receiving an education from Harvard College, he worked odd jobs and briefly served in the U.S. Navy during World War I while continuing to improve his skills in machining and inventing.

Fuller developed many ideas and inventions, largely focused on providing practical and inexpensive shelter or transportation. Some of Fuller’s earlier inventions included the Dymaxion car and his most famous endeavor, the popularization of Geodesic Domes.

After having several students from SIU Carbondale assist with rebuilding some of his models in 1959, Fuller was recruited by a friend to serve as a research professor at the university. Fuller would serve as an SIUC professor until 1972 and a joint SIUC and SIU Edwardsville professor from 1972 until 1975.

While living in Illinois, Buckminster Fuller created several of his well-known projects. The Montreal Biosphere, a large geodesic dome containing an environmental museum, was designed in 1967 during this period. In addition, Fuller constructed his “Dome-Home” where he lived in Carbondale, designed the dome for SIUE’s campus Religious Center and invented the World Game, a 70-by-35-foot collaborative simulation game in which players attempt to solve world problems.

Learn more about Fuller by reading his biography on the Buckminster Fuller Institute website.