In the air of what has been a culturally revivalist period, does the romanticism of the past hurt contemporary development? Or does it provide us with precedent from which to learn? What are the dangers or benefits specifically in radical 60s/70s revivalism? I don’t think much of Fuller I don’t like his ideas. What were the terminal flaws in his ideas? Regarding geodesic domes not working, why? Fuller seems like a figure worth trusting. At some point in my fan-dom I realized that much of the progressive movements and utopian communities embodied so many of the problems of that time (patriarchy, racism, narcissism) and that geodesic domes, similarly, were not ideal structures. The political, social and aesthetic ideas of the 60’s were really influential for me as a teenager. A place you feel secure, a place where you can rest, get healed when you are sick, a place that keeps the rain off your head… Everybody needs to have shelter and my idea is that you can do it by yourself. I am curious to know your answer to the foundational concept after a lifetime of lessons and experience. Your work has always been essentially about the concept of home, framed by your philosophical/social/ethical position. To Kahn, with hard work and ingenuity, anything is possible. Eventually, he decided that domes were not the most ideal structures for home living, and went on to champion a myriad of ways to be self-sufficient and subsist with very little money. Lloyd became involved with the Whole Earth catalog as Shelter Editor after having built what was then the largest dome home of its time. In 1968 the Whole Earth catalog was published by Stewart Brand, a countercultural roundup - a precursor to Google that included articles on all imaginable topics - containing information ranging from toolmaking to organic gardening to metaphysics to the joy of sex. Lloyd Kahn is one of the foremost pioneers of the Do-It-Yourself movement.

Home Work by Lloyd Kahn