Post #205632 by freddiefreelance on Wed, Jan 4, 2006 9:03 AM

On 2005-12-28 21:57, Gigantalope wrote:
That's great, glad to Bucky's being more appreciated. (Hopefully Raymond Lowey is next)
I think there were a few styles of Dymaxion House, some based on Grain Silos and others like upside-down umbrella to be dropped from blimps.

As far as I know the only surviving Dymaxion Car is in Reno at the old Harrah's Collection (Now called something else like National Car Collection)

Thanks for posting

Bucky's WW II shelters built using grain silos were part of the inspiration for the Dymaxion Houses that were built, crossed with Bucky's original idea for the "4-D House," suspending each floor of houses & apartment buildings from a central spindle core (the building that would be carried to a location & dropped by blimp).

The Dymaxion House combined the simple construction methods of a grain silo (the roof sections are snapped together and raised up a pole high enough to attach the topmost level of the walls, then that is raised up enough to attach the next lower level of the walls, etc., until it's raised all the way), with Bucky's idea of buildings under tension (using lighter spars, cables & sheathing, like an umbrella, instead of heavier beams & framing, like a standard house). The idea for the Dymaxion House was to mass produce them using pre-existing WW II aircraft assemby lines (Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Ks.), sell them for about the cost of a Cadillac, and ship them worldwide in kit form in their own aluminum tube.

Unfortunately only 2 prototypes were built before the company collapsed due to arguments between Bucky, the money people & the manufacturer, and these 2 houses were combined into one 2 level addition to investor William Graham's house. Bucky never completed the plans for the Dymaxion House, and the Graham house didn't have all the parts installed, so many parts had to be inferred & built by hand.

Dymaxion Car #2 is the only remaining car, it's in the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.