Dymaxion map – The Map Room

Will Using Fuller’s Projection Get You in Trouble?

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 00:37:09 +0000

Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map: is the projection it uses patented, trademarked or copyrighted to the extent that you have to pay a licencing fee or face a lawsuit? Daniel Huffman digs into this very question, which apparently has been circulating around the cartographic world for some time. “Here’s the summary of what I’ve concluded: if you don’t pay a license fee before you publish a map that uses the Fuller projection, you may find yourself hearing from the projection’s ‘owner.’ At the same time, I don’t think that the owner (the Buckminster Fuller Institute) has any rights that would actually hold up in court.”

John Nelson’s Dymaxion Globe Ornaments

Jonathan Crowe — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 13:36:06 +0000

Something to add to our list of map-based Christmas ornaments: John Nelson’s papercraft Dymaxion globe ornaments. In three colours. Print, cut, fold, enjoy.

Previously: Waldseemüller Globe Ornament; DIY Map Ornaments.

Alejandro Polanco’s Minimal Geography

Jonathan Crowe — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 13:40:45 +0000

Our friend Alejandro Polanco has produced a nifty infographic poster map that is centred, for a change, on the Dymaxion projection. The central map is surrounded by lots of little inset maps and infographics. Called Minimal Geography, it’s available for sale via Kickstarter as a €6 digital download in two print sizes. A second reward level adds a full edition of Alejandro’s Maptorian.

Dymaxion Folding Globe

Jonathan Crowe — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 22:37:29 +0000

This morning’s post about the AuthaGraph World Map reminded me of Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map (which after all was explicitly referenced by its creator). Designer Brendan Ravenhill has produced a version of Fuller’s map in the form of a magnetic folding globe. Wired: “Like Fuller’s original map, Ravenhill’s globe can exist in two or three dimensions. Laid flat, it’s a series of 20 triangles that show Fuller’s projection as a single landmass. The back of each triangle features a magnet so you can fold the map into an angular globe. ‘Really it’s a toy, but a toy that has a lot of resonance and importance,’ Ravenhill says.” $15 each, in three colours. [Sociative GIS]