Image of Drop City

Felicity D. Scott

Acid Visions is an article describing the purpose of Buckminster Fuller’s patented invention of the geodesic dome and its use by countercultural groups of the 1960’s. Hans Meyer, a dome builder, produced a publication called Domebook 1. This publication was embraced by counterculture of the hippies. Domebook 1 interviewed Buckminster Fuller about his experience and interest with the geodesic dome. He described that as a child he was practically blind without the aid of his corrective glasses. He claimed that when he removed his glasses his vision was confined to an array of “‘blurry colours,’ producing and ‘enjoyment of colour [that] was fantastically intense.’” He explained that this experience as a child is what led him to the understanding of the patterns and structure of the dome.

Fuller also mentioned that his “philosophy” of a one world ideology and “doing-more-with-less” attitude, was closely linked to the ideas of the antiwar political protestors and the environmental movements of the 60’s. The reason that many environmentalists shared a common interest in the dome structure as living quarters was because the structure could be built very easily and quickly with lightweight material. The dome also allowed the possibility for solar heating which would reduce the need for electricity, thus saving energy by using less invasive resources for producing heat. Fuller was completely aware of the limited number of resources that the world had to offer and wanted to preserve the earth’s resources as much as possible.

The hippie culture was most likely drawn to the dome structure because it allowed for a living space that was free of structural support, enabling the group to be “together.” Not to mention the shape and design of the dome offered a psychedelic experience. In the 60’s, many of the hippies and the youth would take “acid” of LSD to have an altered state of consciousness. They believed that this heightened state of consciousness allowed individuals to become one with the world; the drug made you feel as if you melted into the ground. Many of the artist groups of the time were interested in simulating the effects of LSD through strobe projection projects and psychedelic use of technology. The psychedelic culture proclaimed that the effects of LSD had “consciousness-expanding potential” and “visual sensations are often accompanied by a sense of oneness with the universe and a disappearance of the feeling of being separated from other people and the physical environment.” So whether the hippies took LSD to have this heightened experience, or simply simulated it with the use of strobe projections, or building universal living environments such as domes, the purpose was to have an experience of being one with the earth and one with the people around you without the presence of the ego.

Drop City is an example of an artist community of communal living environments. It was an “experiment in life-off-the-grid living” and conceived of as a “large environmental sculpture.” The Droppers who lived in Drop City were a group of artists who considered themselves as a “community of artists who were innovating not only in the area of buildings and lifestyle, but also in a multi-media approach to art.”

Laura