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Image via Buck\u00admin\u00adster Fuller Estate<\/p>\n
The nov\u00adels of John Brun\u00adner have become a niche taste, even with\u00adin his genre of sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion. A more soci\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly mind\u00aded ver\u00adsion of Philip K. Dick at his best, he could write with what now looks like a simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous pre\u00adscience about the civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtion to come and an apoc\u00ada\u00adlyp\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly anx\u00adious con\u00adcern with the issues of his day. His undis\u00adput\u00aded mas\u00adter\u00adpiece Stand on Zanz\u00adibar<\/a> came out in 1968, the same year as the late Paul R. Ehrlich\u2019s\u00a0The Pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion Bomb<\/a>. Both books deal with the dire con\u00adse\u00adquences of what, at the time, looked like the run\u00adaway mul\u00adti\u00adpli\u00adca\u00adtion of human\u00adi\u00adty, though ele\u00adments of the dystopi\u00adan sci-fi writer\u2019s vision now look rather more cred\u00adi\u00adble than the pre\u00addic\u00adtions of the Stan\u00adford biol\u00ado\u00adgist \u2014 apart from the giant geo\u00addes\u00adic dome cov\u00ader\u00ading Man\u00adhat\u00adtan, any\u00adway.<\/p>\n In a sense, Brun\u00adner was actu\u00adal\u00adly behind the times, since Buck\u00admin\u00adster Fuller him\u00adself had sug\u00adgest\u00aded dom\u00ading Man\u00adhat\u00adtan near\u00adly a decade ear\u00adli\u00ader. In their ambi\u00adtious pro\u00adpos\u00adal for a \u201ctwo-mile-wide Dome Over Man\u00adhat\u00adtan\u201d from the turn of the nine\u00adteen-six\u00adties, Fuller and long\u00adtime col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtor Sho\u00adji Sadao \u201cimag\u00adined a mas\u00adsive archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal sur\u00adface that would reg\u00adu\u00adlate the city\u2019s ecosys\u00adtems,\u201d write Next City\u2019s Janette Kim and Erik Carv\u00ader<\/a>. \u201cThey deliv\u00adered this design along with a series of sur\u00adpris\u00ading cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtions: the Dome would reduce heat loss by scal\u00ading the city to one eighty-fifth of its sur\u00adface area; the elim\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion of snow\u00adplow\u00ading alone would pay for heat; build\u00adings inside the Dome could be built lighter and cheap\u00ader with\u00adout need for weath\u00ader\u00adproof\u00ading; and inte\u00adri\u00ador air could be heat\u00aded by remote plants.\u201d<\/p>\n Fuller and Sadao did bring some num\u00adbers to back up their claims, but even more impor\u00adtant\u00adly, they made assur\u00adances that the dome\u2019s glass would be one-way, a defense against pry\u00ading non-Man\u00adhat\u00adtan\u00adite eyes, and would keep res\u00adi\u00addents\u2019 cars and lawns in prime con\u00addi\u00adtion. How\u00adev\u00ader out\u00adlandish\u00adly for\u00adward-think\u00ading Fuller could be, he nev\u00ader for\u00adgot that he need\u00aded to appeal to the wor\u00adries and aspi\u00adra\u00adtions of mid-cen\u00adtu\u00adry Amer\u00adi\u00adca. As a per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty, he also fit in well with the era\u2019s enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm for sweep\u00ading infra\u00adstruc\u00adtur\u00adal fix\u00ades. \u201cIt was a time when peo\u00adple real\u00adly believed in the pow\u00ader of tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy,\u201d says Nev\u00ader Built New York co-author Sam Lubell<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re build\u00ading space\u00adships that go to the moon. Why can\u2019t we build a dome over Man\u00adhat\u00adtan to get rid of all this pol\u00adlu\u00adtion, get rid of all the prob\u00adlems of weath\u00ader?\u201d<\/p>\n Still, as eccen\u00adtric as he was, Fuller was\u00adn\u2019t delu\u00adsion\u00adal. \u201cIt\u2019d be very worth\u00adwhile to have cities under geo\u00addes\u00adic domes, but New York City, if you think about all the dif\u00adfer\u00adent own\u00aders of dif\u00adfer\u00adent lands, the con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsy about \u2018this is my air rights, I don\u2019t want a thing over my thing here,\u2019 I just don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to hap\u00adpen,\u201d he admit\u00adted. But \u201cit can hap\u00adpen where you start out in places where ener\u00adgy is a real\u00adly fan\u00adtas\u00adtic prob\u00adlem.\u201d At the time, the ever-increas\u00ading demand for resources of all kinds by a rapid\u00adly grow\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion appeared to be not just a but the fan\u00adtas\u00adtic prob\u00adlem. Today, once-unfore\u00adsee\u00adable devel\u00adop\u00adments like ris\u00ading ener\u00adgy effi\u00adcien\u00adcy and an appar\u00adent\u00adly inex\u00adorable decline in glob\u00adal birthrates have direct\u00aded our ner\u00advous gazes else\u00adwhere. Yet dat\u00aded visions of tech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal utopia and dystopia still strike us as odd\u00adly famil\u00adiar \u2014 and indeed, as strange\u00adly sim\u00adi\u00adlar to one anoth\u00ader.<\/p>\n Relat\u00aded con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n The Life & Times of Buck\u00admin\u00adster Fuller\u2019s Geo\u00addes\u00adic Dome: A Doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary<\/a><\/p>\n A Brief Intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to Buck\u00admin\u00adster Fuller and His Tech\u00adno-Opti\u00admistic Ideas<\/a><\/p>\n The Eden Project Built a Rain\u00adfor\u00adest Ecosys\u00adtem Inside Buck\u00admin\u00adster Fuller-Inspired Geo\u00addes\u00adic Domes<\/a><\/p>\n Bet\u00adter Liv\u00ading Through Buck\u00admin\u00adster Fuller\u2019s Utopi\u00adan Designs: Revis\u00adit the Dymax\u00adion Car, House, and Map<\/a><\/p>\n When Frank Lloyd Wright Designed a Plan to Turn Ellis Island Into a Futur\u00adis\u00adtic Jules Verne-Esque City (1959)<\/a><\/p>\n Based in Seoul,\u00a0Col\u00adin<\/a>\u00a0M<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>\u00a0writes and broad\u00adcasts on cities, lan\u00adguage, and cul\u00adture. He\u2019s the author of the newslet\u00adter\u00a0Books on Cities<\/a>\u00a0as well as the books\u00a0\ud55c\uad6d \uc694\uc57d \uae08\uc9c0<\/a>\u00a0(No Sum\u00adma\u00adriz\u00ading Korea) and\u00a0Kore\u00adan Newtro<\/a>.\u00a0Fol\u00adlow him on the social net\u00adwork for\u00admer\u00adly known as Twit\u00adter at\u00a0@colinm<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t