Old Man River’s City RevisitedMain MenuOld Man River's City RevisitedAbout the siteEast St. Louis BackgroundBuckminster Fuller and His Utopian VisionBackground info on why he was chosen to helpThe Design PathwayA brief look at how the design and description of the Old Man River's City Project shifted from 1971 to 1976Media Coverage of Old Man RiverInterview with the Old Man River's City DesignersDavid Thompson sat down to talk to four individuals involved in the design work of the Old Man River's City project. Thank you to Tom Thomson, Bill Wischmeye, Carl Safe, and Dennis Cope for taking time out of their schedules to answer these questions and being candid about their opinions on the project itself.When Hope and Skepticism CollideAcknowledgements and BibliographyExhibit FeedbackPlease feel free to complete our feedback page and leave comments letting us know what you thought.Stephanie Cuvarf72d31241e6d8c3b45c4337cb676688e83dea0e0Cathy McNeese6a0d33e14329dcb08a2c74d126ca47588f4fd3c2David Thompsonf9dd88556180b38187c27d862fc17e8c454d3fa5
Event at the Mary Brown Center
12020-05-01T00:10:18+00:00David Thompsonf9dd88556180b38187c27d862fc17e8c454d3fa55113On February 25, 1971 the designers of the Old Man River and community members from East St. Louis gathered at the Mary Brown Center to discuss the projected idea of a domed city.plain2020-05-04T17:07:43+00:00David Thompsonf9dd88556180b38187c27d862fc17e8c454d3fa5 The momentum and characters in the Old Man River Project collided at the Mary Brown Center on February 25, 1971. The Mary Brown Center is one of Buckminster Fuller’s many successful geodesic domes, set in East St. Louis. The community gathered to observe pictures and models of the submitted plan designed by Fuller and Fitzgibbon, as well as several other students and faculty members at Wahington University. The panel started with Fuller speaking to the community on the background and aspirations of the project. He then took questions from the members of the city. The community voiced concerns with the project as the design of the dome seemed prison-like, and citizens of East St. Louis were anxious that if the project went through, they would lose their homes. According to interviews with some of the students and faculty that were present at the event, the project’s ideas did not represent the solution the community needed. In retrospect, the domed city was an overarching answer to a more focused question. The town required isolated funds from the state to help build from the ground up, not encompass the city in a dome. The event at the Mary Brown Center stood as a test for the ideas of the Old Man River project, the answers the designers got forced them to make drastic design changes to the model. One of those design changes was to lift the dome off the ground, thus ending the use of the dome as an energy-efficient means of sustaining the community. The event was an observation of what happens when hypothesis and theory meet real-world problems.
1media/Students_thumb.JPG2020-04-27T23:38:37+00:00Students and Faculty of Washington University at the Mary Brown Center Event2Students and Faculty who assisted on the Old Man River project gather while listening to Margaret Fitzgibbon. Provided by Tom Thomson.media/Students.JPGplain2020-04-27T23:39:58+00:00
1media/Old Man River crew_thumb.jpeg2020-04-27T23:23:26+00:00Photo of Design Team at the Mary Brown Center2Members of the design team gather for a candid photograph at the Mary Brown Center event. From left to right: Jaturapat Israngkul, Chris Grubbs, Bill Wischmeyer, James Fitzgibbon, Buckminster Fuller, Margaret Fitzgibbon, Tom Thomson, Marge Miller (Brownstein), Carl Safe, Gordon Wittenberg. (Credit to Bill Wischmeyer and John Guenther for the image)media/Old Man River crew.jpegplain2020-05-04T17:36:36+00:00
1media/Bucky Speaking_thumb.jpg2020-04-27T23:31:48+00:00Fuller Speaking at the Mary Brown Center Event2Buckminster Fuller presents to the community at the Mary Brown Center. Around him in the room is a small diorama of the Old Man River project design, the large panel with the photograph of the diorama, and a photo of Fuller's dymaxion map. Credit to Dennis Cope for providing this photographmedia/Bucky Speaking.jpgplain2020-05-04T17:44:13+00:00
1media/Community and Fuller talk_thumb.jpg2020-04-27T23:33:10+00:00Members of the East St. Louis Community ask Fuller Questions2Fuller cups his ear to listen intently to a member of the East St. Louis community comment on the Old Man River Project. Credit to Dennis Cope for providing this photographmedia/Community and Fuller talk.jpgplain2020-05-04T17:45:42+00:00