Dymaxion is a term coined by architect and inventor
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...
and associated with much of his work—prominently his
Dymaxion house
The Dymaxion House was developed by inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller to address several perceived shortcomings with existing homebuilding techniques. Fuller designed several versions of the house at different times — all of them ...
and
Dymaxion car
The streamlined Dymaxion car was designed by American inventor Buckminster Fuller during the Great Depression and featured prominently at Chicago's 1933/1934 World's Fair. Fuller built three experimental prototypes with naval architect Starli ...
. Dymaxion, a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words
Description
A name was needed for the display of Fuller's first architectural model, later to be known as the
Dymaxion house
The Dymaxion House was developed by inventor and architect Buckminster Fuller to address several perceived shortcomings with existing homebuilding techniques. Fuller designed several versions of the house at different times — all of them ...
, at the
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...
department store in Chicago. To create the name, wordsmith Waldo Warren was hired by Marshall Field's and spent two days listening to Fuller, getting a feel for his idiosyncratic use of language—later playing with the syllables typical of Fuller's speech until he and Fuller agreed on the word ''Dymaxion''.
Fuller used the word for many of his inventions during the decades to follow, including the Dymaxion house, the
Dymaxion deployment unit
A Dymaxion deployment unit (DDU) or Dymaxion House, is a structure designed in 1940 by Buckminster Fuller consisting of a 20-foot circular hut constructed of corrugated steel looking much like a yurt or the top of a metal silo. The interior was ...
, the
Dymaxion car
The streamlined Dymaxion car was designed by American inventor Buckminster Fuller during the Great Depression and featured prominently at Chicago's 1933/1934 World's Fair. Fuller built three experimental prototypes with naval architect Starli ...
polyphasic sleep
Biphasic sleep (or ''diphasic'', ''bifurcated'', or bimodal sleep) is the practice of sleeping during two periods over the course of 24 hours, while polyphasic sleep refers to sleeping multiple times—usually more than two. Each of these is in ...
schedule he followed, consisting of four 30-minute naps throughout the day.
Fuller eventually renamed his elaborate journal—a highly specific, highly detailed self-documentation of his life—as the ''
Dymaxion Chronofile
The Dymaxion Chronofile is Buckminster Fuller's attempt to document his life as completely as possible. He created a very large scrapbook in which he documented his life every 15 minutes from 1920 to 1983. The scrapbook contains copies of all corre ...
