Why Buckminster Fuller is the “patron saint” of the University City Science Center

University City Science Center, a non-profit organization that helps innovators and entrepreneurs bring their creative ideas to market, was designed to be a place of collaboration and has only grown since its inception in 1963.

The center, which moved to its new uCity Square location at the end of 2018, was to be the next hub to feature in Technical.lys 10 week series beforePhilly Tech Week 2020 presented by Comcast which links historic figures to modern spaces that embody innovation. (See how the programmers of the Electronic and computer digital integratorto connect to Pennovation works if you are not caught.)

Sadly, when we launched this series and spent the past few months planning this year’s Philly Tech Week events, we didn’t expect a pandemic to spread to our area and demarcate residents. (Maybe you heard?) As a result, PTW20 is now postponed until later this year. But we couldn’t resist sharing a story from more than one innovator from Philly’s past – and, thankfully, one with the strongest connection to date to its assigned PTW hub.

The mission of the scientific centers is based on three pillars: the marketing of promising companies, the convening of people to share and support ideas and the training of future talents in STEM. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) spent time there as a global fellow in residence in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The futurist and author of the concept of Earth spacecraft is known for designing the geodesic dome, which you may know made of Disneys Epcot Center. The Science Center paid tribute to Fuller in his inaugural class of Innovators’ Walk of Fame in the art category in 2014.

David Clayton, director of the internal STEM training program FirstHand, feels like Fuller is the “patron saint” of the Science Center: Fuller has used resources to improve humanity, something that Clayton believes speaks of the culture of innovation that the organization is trying to create.

Some of its principles are things we still look at today, said Clayton. I think it was something he did well in advance through his books, lectures and projects.

At FirstHand, Clayton works with college youth to give them early exposure to careers in science, design and entrepreneurship.

“We are creating a platform where young people can start solving tomorrow’s problems and start thinking about those problems now,” said Clayton. “Fuller is the source of this.”

“Bucky”, as he is affectionately known, preferred the title of design scientist on anything else. He has spent his life working in many fields, including architecture, design and engineering, in his quest to make the world work for all of humanity. He often combined art and technology; the Science Center also connects the two.

The center houses the Esther Klein Gallery and uses the creative arts to explore the intersections between art, science and technology. The gallery presents six exhibitions each year which are based on a certain type of art and technology. Fuller exhibited his work in a solo exhibition at the gallery in the early 1980s which featured his latest invention at the time, the Dymaxion 4D book case.

Bucky had a lot of really incredible ideas that he put into practice, but he also had a lot of ideas that never came to fruition, said Angela McQuillan, curator of the Esther Klein gallery. I think it shows that he was not afraid to experiment and be super creative.

McQuillan is also director of the Science Center’s BioArt Residence program – remember that the Lovesick designed “virus” that spreads kindness and empathy? – which she founded in 2017. The program is part of a partnership with a biotechnology company Integral molecular– people trying to understand what makes COVID-19 so contagious – and was created to create interdisciplinary ideas and to get people to talk about things from a different angle and find solutions to problems. Each year, three residents spend three months working with scientists to create a collection of works for the gallery.

Science Center continues to evolve as the needs of startups and entrepreneurs change over time, said marketing director Kristen fitch.

Trying to build on his legacy and keep in mind the value of different ideas and different types of people and what they can collectively bring to the table, said Fitch.

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