R. Buckminster Fuller: Conversations M1915
Bill O'Hanlon
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
2013 ; revised 2022-2023
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: R. Buckminster Fuller: Conversations
Identifier/Call Number: M1915
Physical Description:
7 Linear Feet
(9 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 2002-2004
Abstract: Audiovisual interviews with scholars and associates of Buckminster Fuller, including records of two symposia on Fuller.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Library creation; 2012; Accession MSS 2012-182. Gift of Jeffrey Schnapp; 2016. Accession MSS 2016-214. Copyright transferred
to Stanford Libraries.
Conditions Governing Use
© Stanford University. All Rights Reserved.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], R. Buckminster Fuller: Conversations (M1915). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Most material from this
collection has been digitized and is available via Searchworks: https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/9948063.
Scope and Contents
In 2002, to celebrate the acquisition of the Fuller archive, the Stanford Libraries and the Stanford Humanities Laboratory
launched a series of Conversations on R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the Dymaxion car, the Dymaxion Dwelling Unit, and
the geodesic dome, author of
Utopia or Oblivion,
4D Timelock,
Synergetics,
Tetrascroll and
Critical Path. The series consists of filmed interviews with Fuller's key collaborators, interlocutors and contemporaries, and is designed
to enhance critical understanding of this enigmatic polymath.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Schlossberg, Edwin
Snyder, Allegra Fuller
Roszak, Theodore
Snelson, Kenneth, 1927-2016
Foster, Norman
Brand, Stewart
Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster)
Applewhite, E. J.
Zung, Thomas T.K.
Sadao, Shoji
Cunningham, Merce
Asawa, Ruth
Lanier, Albert
Pogue, Richard W.
Finley, Dale
Morrison, Hunter
Strawbridge, Holly
Wolf, Herman, 1912-2005
De Varco, Bonnie
R. Buckminster Fuller: Conversations on the Life & Work of an Enigmatic Genius
Applewhite, E.J., interviewed by Jeffrey Schnapp, 2002-01-30, Stanford University
M1915_b1_01
Physical Description: 1 videotape(s) (betacam-sp)
Biographical Note
E.J. Applewhite was born in Tidewater Virginia in 1919. Insisting that he "just couldn't bear for anyone to have secrets that
[he] didn't know about" E. J. Applewhite pursued career in the CIA as Deputy Inspector General and Chief of the Inspection
Staff. The same instinct led him to him to collaborate with Buckminster Fuller on Synergetics (1975). Applewhite's other books
include Cosmic Fishing: An Account of Writing Synergetics with Buckminster Fuller (1975), Washington Itself (1981) and Paradise
Mislaid (1991), as well as the four-volume Synergetics dictionary: the mind of Buckminster Fuller (1986).
Brand, Stewart, interviewed by Joseph Corn, 2002-02-27, Stanford University
M1915_b1_02
Physical Description: 1 videotape(s) (betacam-sp)
Foster, Norman, interview by Jeffrey Schnapp, 2003-10-24, Green Library, Stanford University
M1915_b1_03
Biographical note
Norman Foster is a distinguished architect and designer, principal of Foster and Partners, an international architecture,
design, and development firm based in London. Lord Foster was educated at Manchester University and Yale University, and has
been the recipient of numerous major architectural awards including the Pritzker Prize (1999), the AIA Gold Medal (1994) and
the RIBA Royal Gold Medal (1983).
Lord Foster met Buckminster Fuller in 1971, and over the course of the next twelve years the two collaborated on numerous
projects and exchanged ideas regarding shelter, energy, and the envoronment. The collaborations with Bucky would later find
their way into Foster's architectural designs; their collaboration on the "climatroffice" project in the early 1970's informed
and inflenced the design of the Swiss Re building in London (1997-2004), which uses natural ventilation to create reduce the
need for mechanical cooling and ventilation.
In his 1999 acceptance speech for the Pritzker Prize, Lord Foster said of R. Buckminster Fuller, he was "the essence of a
moral conscience....He remains a guiding spirit..."
Roszak, Theodore, interviewed by Jeffrey Schnapp, 2003-04-30, Stanford University
M1915_b1_04
Physical Description: 1 videotape(s) (betacam-sp)
Sadao, Shoji, interviewed by Jeffrey Schnapp, 2002-02-16, Stanford University
M1915_b1_05
Physical Description: 1 videotape(s) (betacam-sp)
Snelson, Kenneth, interviewed by Jeffrey Schnapp, 2003-02-13,Stanford University
M1915_b1_06
Physical Description: 1 videotape(s) (betacam-sp)
Snyder, Allegra Fuller, interviewed by Jeffrey Schnapp, 2002-01-22, Stanford University
Part 1: M1915_b1_07
Part 2: M1915_b1_08
Physical Description: 1 videotape(s) (betacam)
Zung, Thomas T. K., 2002-02-13, Stanford University
Part 1: M1915_b1_09
Part 2: M1915_b1_10
Physical Description: 2 videotape(s) (betacam-sp)
Box 1
Ed Applewhite - Interview Pt.1-2 (2 miniDV) Dub From Master 3/5/03 (1 miniDV)
Box 9
E.J. Applewhite 9/02 Edited Master (BetacamSP)
Box 1
Stewart Brand - Dub from Edited Master 4/3/03 (1 miniDV)
Box 9
Stewart Brand 10/02 Edited Master (BetacamSP)
Box 9
Norman Foster 2/04 Master (BetacamSP)
Box 9
Theodore Roszak 11/03 Master (BetacamSP)
Box 1
Sadao Dub From Master (1 miniDV)
Box 9
Shoji Sadao 8/02 Edited Master (BetacamSP)
Box 1
Edwin Schlossberg (4 miniDV)
Box 1
Snelson Conversations Tape 1-2 (2 miniDV) ; Snelson Talk (1 miniDV)
Box 9
Kenneth Snelson 9/03 Master (BetacamSP)
Box 1
Allegra Fuller Snyder (2 miniDV)
Box 9
Allegra Fuller Snyder 7/03 Master (BetacamSP) 1 of 2
Box 9
Allegra Fuller Snyder 7/03 Master (BetacamSP) 2 of 2
Box 1
Roger Stoller 5/5/2003 (2 miniDV) ; Stoller interview Gorman 5/5/2003 (2 miniDV)
Box 1
[2 unlabeled miniDV tapes]
Box 4
Roger W. Stoller interview May 5, 2003 (1 DVD-R)
Box 4
[unlabeled DVD-R, possibly Stoller interview]
Box 9
Thomas T.K. Zung 12/02 Master (BetacamSP) 1 of 2
Box 9
Thomas T.K. Zung 12/02 Master (BetacamSP) 2 of 2
Box 9
Thomas T.K. Zung 12/02 Edited Master (DVCAM)
Box 4
Fuller Oral History Transcripts (CDR, 2 copies)
Media (raw camera footage)
Box 5
Fuller Conversations 1/16/02 Camera 1 pt.1-3
2002-01-16
Box 5
Fuller Conversations 1/16/02 Camera 2 pt.1-3
2002-01-16
Box 5
Fuller Session #2 1/30/02 Camera 1 pt.1-2
2002-01-30
Box 5
Fuller Session #2 1/30/02 Camera 2 pt.1-2
2002-01-30
Box 5
Buckminster Fuller Conversations Cantor Auditorium 2/13/02 Camera 1 pt.1-2
2002-02-13
Box 5
Buckminster Fuller Conversations Cantor Auditorium 2/13/02 Camera 2 pt.1-2
2002-02-13
Box 5
Fuller Talk 2/27/02 Camera 1 pt.1-2
2002-02-27
Box 6
Fuller Talk 2/27/02 Camera 2 pt.1-2
2002-02-27
Box 6
Fuller Re-Do 4/5/02 pt.1-2
2002-04-05
Box 6
Allegra on Bucky Camera 1 1/22/03 pt.1-2
2003-01-22
Box 6
Allegra on Bucky Camera 2 1/22/03 pt.1
2003-01-22
Box 6
Fuller II. Snelson 2/12/03 Camera 1 pt.1-2
2003-02-12
Box 6
Fuller II. Snelson 2/12/03 Camera 2 pt.1-2
2003-02-12
Box 7
Fuller Conversations. T. Roszak 4/30/03 Camera 1 pt.1-2
2003-04-30
Box 7
Fuller Conversations. T. Roszak 4/30/03 Camera 2 pt.1-2
2003-04-30
Box 7
Fuller Conversations. Norm Foster 10/24/03 Camera 1
2003-10-24
Box 7
Fuller Conversations. Norm Foster 10/24/03 Camera 2
2003-10-24
Box 7
Fuller Talk #1. Dub Composite (For Re-Do)
T.K. Zung Interviews re: Black Mountain College, Cleveland
2002-2003
Physical Description: 9 videotape(s) (minidv)
Box 8
Ruth Asawa. Black Mountain College Oral History Aug.24, 2002
2002-08-24
Box 8
Ruth Asawa. Stanford - Bucky, "Connections" Aug. 24, 2002
2002-08-24
Box 8
Albert Lanier. Black Mountain College Oral History August 24, 2002
2002-08-24
Box 8
Ruth Asawa. Stanford Archives. Bucky Fuller Interview. Aug. 25, 2002
2002-08-25
Box 8
Albert Lanier. Black Mountain College - Bucky Dome August 25, 2002
2002-08-25
Box 8
Richard Pogue. Cleveland Connection Oral History Bucky Fuller, Doxiadis. Jan. 10, 2003
2003-01-10
Box 8
Dale Finley. Nous. Cleveland Connection March 3, 2003 City Club
2003-03-03
Box 8
Hunter Morrison. Cleveland Connection, Doxiadis April 21, 2003 Cleveland Urban Design Center
2003-04-21
Box 8
Holly Strawbridge. Bucky - Stanford University. Cleveland Connection Aug.5, 2003
2003-08-05
Other interviews
Scope and Contents
Recordings related to Fuller's archive but not part of the "Conversations" series.
Box 4
Herman Wolf interviewed by Hsiao-Yun Chu 5/22/05 [2 audiocassettes - 2006-341]
Box 4
Buckminster Fuller Archive Overview Bonnie DeVarco, Y.C. Wong, July 1995 (1 videocassette)
Box 4
Bonnie Goldstein deVarco interviewed by Hsiao-Yun Chu about the Buckminster Fuller Archive 5/12/2006 (2 audiocassettes)
