Buckminster Fuller Symposium :: September 12 - 13, 2008 :: The Great Hall of The Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street at Astor Place, New York, NY.

Visionary designer, philosopher, poet, inventor, engineer, and advocate of sustainability, Buckminster Fuller was one of the great transdisciplinary thinkers of the last century with a legacy that extends to nearly every field of the arts and sciences. This symposium takes its cue from Fuller’s dictum, “I always say to myself, what is the most important thing we can think about at this extraordinary moment,” and explores how contemporary scholars and practitioners are pushing Fuller’s ideas and projects into the 21st century.

In conjunction with the exhibition Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe, on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art, June 26 – September 21, 2008. The symposium is co-sponsored by The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Architectural League of New York, and The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union.

SEPTEMBER 12, 7:00 pm
Keynote Roundtable
Sanford Kwinter, Rice University; Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Michael Sorkin, Michael Sorkin Studio
Moderated by Anthony Vidler, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union
Introduction to the symposium by Allegra Fuller Snyder

SEPTEMBER 13, 10:00 am
On Architecture, Design, and Science
Peter Galison, Harvard University
Chuck Hoberman, Designer, Artist, Engineer, and Inventor
Felicity Scott, The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University
Anthony Vidler, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union
Moderated by K. Michael Hays, Whitney Museum of American Art; Harvard University Graduate School of Design

SEPTEMBER 13, 1:00 pm
On Influence and Contemporary Art
Carol Bove, artist
Pedro Reyes, artist
Elizabeth A. T. Smith, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Victoria Vesna, artist
Moderated by Dana Miller, Whitney Museum of American Art

Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe is organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in association with the Department of Special Collections of the Stanford University Libraries. Major support is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation, the National Committee of the Whitney Museum of American Art in honor of Linda Pace, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Atwater Kent Foundation, and The Solow Art and Architecture Foundation. Media partner Thirteen/WNET.