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This black and white photograph shows the prototype of a dymaxion house designed by Richard Buckminster Fuller. The word Dymaxion means DY (dynamic), MAX (maximum), and ION (tension). The house, constructed in Rose Hill, Kansas, was made of aluminum and used tension suspension from a central column or mast. This model was one of only two prototypes ever produced. Fuller hoped to convert the Beech aircraft factory in Wichta to produce these houses to give returning veterans jobs and to help resolve the shortage of homes following World War II. In 1991 the William Graham family donated it to the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.
Date: Between 1948 and 1958
Item Number: 210103
Call Number: FK2. B5 .75 *6
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 210103
Built Environment - Architectural Style - Dymaxion
Built Environment - Materials - Metal - Aluminum
Business and Industry - Aviation - Production - Beech
Collections - Photograph
Community Life - Scenes and views - Residential
Date - 1940s
Date - 1950s
Home and Family - Residences - Interiors - Living rooms/Parlors
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph
Places - Cities and towns - Rose Hill
Places - Cities and towns - Wichita
Places - Counties - Butler
Places - Counties - Sedgwick
Thematic Time Period - Eisenhower Years, 1946 - 1961
Type of Material - Photographs
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/210103