One of the great American visionaries of the twentieth century, R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) endeavored to see what he, a single individual, might do to benefit the largest segment of humanity while consuming the minimum of the earth’s resources. Doing “more with less” was Fuller’s credo. He described himself as a “comprehensive anticipatory design scientist,” setting forth to solve the escalating challenges that faced humanity before they became insurmountable.

It has always been a dream of mine to buy a large plot of land somewhere rural and remote and build a simple, sustainable and decidedly eccentric dwelling on its most beautiful point. If for some reason I never quite find the time to do this my second option would be to seek out the best prefabricated, sustainable house one could imagine and I don’t mean a tricked out double-wide. Two shows currently on view in Manhattan offer both inspiration and at times precise instructions on how one might find and/or construct such a home. At MoMA there is Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling, a selective survey of prefabrication in architecture and a building project of contemporary prefabricated homes on the Museum’s west lot. As for conceiving of a home with intelligent eccentricity one need look no further than the visionary work of Buckminster Fuller a self-described “comprehensive anticipatory design scientist” whose Dymaxion house has to be one of my all time favorite structures. I also particularly like Mr. Fuller’s advice to “live your life as an experiment”. The Whitney offers a thorough retrospective of his work with the show Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe. I suggest trying to see both these shows in one go and then imaging the possibilities some combination of the ideas presented might create for your own modern dwelling and living.