Dymaxion Car, Ivorypress

The streamlined Dymaxion Car was the automotive future as envisioned by US inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller. A three-wheeler, steered by a single rear wheel, it could do a U-turn in its own length. The car was a revolutionary concept, but it was dogged by poor luck, including a crash outside the gates to the Chicago World’s Fair, where it rolled, killing its driver. Abandoned by its original investors, the project was all but forgotten until resurrected by fellow architect Norman Foster in 2008.

This bilingual publication, designed for limited-edition book publishers Ivorypress, traces the history of this automotive icon and Foster’s authentic creation of a brand-new Dymaxion. From historic sources to the latest construction drawings, the book presents a wealth of material and offers the reader insights into the two-year manufacturing process.

The book’s launch coincided with the opening of a Buckminster Fuller retrospective in Madrid.