The Fuller Dome, Center for Spirituality and Sustainability is offering a schedule of special programs in collaboration with the Buckminster Fuller Institute and the Estate of Buckminster Fuller. This five day series of events begins on Thursday, 3/27/25 and culminates on the 90th Day of the year, 3/31/25. Along with his architectural partner Shoji Sadao, Buckminster Fuller designed the miniature-earth-geoscope dome on the SIUE campus to straddle our planet’s 90th longitudinal meridian. Join us as we celebrate Fuller’s legacy on the 90th meridian on the 90th day.
Registration links will be active soon for the schedule below:
Itinerary for Fuller Dome • Geoscope • 90th Day programing
Thursday 3/27/25
10:00am - 11:30am: Welcome
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Architectural Tour of Bucky’s Domes in the region
7:00pm – 7:30pm Katherine Dunham Style Dance Performance
7:30pm – 9:00pm: Opening Reception Gallery Exhibition on Fuller
Friday 3/28/25
8:00am – 11:30am: World Resource Simulation Center Part 1 • with Local bioregional concerns
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 3:30pm: World Resource Simulation Center Part 2 • with Local bioregional concerns
4:30pm – 5:30pm: Poetry Performance & Bucky Readings • Jazz Trio accompanies readings
7:00pm – 9:00pm: performance of the play, “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
Saturday 3/29/25
8:00am – 11:30am: World Peace Game Part1
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 4:30pm: World Peace Game Part2
5:30pm - 7:00pm: Geometric Model Building focus on children & families
8:30pm – 10:00pm: Concert performer TBD
Sunday 3/30/25
10:30am – 11:30am: Soul Sunday (multifaith unity gathering, FREE)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 2:00pm: Prayer for the Planet (with gospel choir, FREE)
3:00pm – 5:00pm: Sound Bath (exploration of dome acoustics)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: performance of the play, “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
Monday 3/31/25
8:00am – 11:30am: Symposium on Fuller Part 1 (FREE)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Symposium on Fuller Part 2 (FREE)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Special 25th Anniversary performance of the play, “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
Thursday 3/27/25
10:00am - 11:30am: Welcome
Greetings from SIUE and regional political leadership
An introduction to the Fuller Dome’s history and its relevance to Buckminster Fuller’s legacy by Center Director, Benjamin Lowder
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Architectural Tour of Bucky’s Domes in the region
Board the bus for a guided architectural tour of the most important region in the world for dome’s related to the legacy of Buckminster Fuller. Beginning at the miniature earth Fuller Dome that Bucky built on the SIUE campus 1971, the tour then heads up to Wood River Illinois to go into the Union Tank Car dome built in 1960. This 380ft wide 120ft tall geodesic dome is still in use and is now under the ownership of Watco. Next the tour takes us across the Mississippi River to St Louis to visit The Climatron dome at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It is a glass geodesic domed greenhouse built in 1960 to house a variety rare tropical plant species. The tour then comes back across the river into East St Louis to visit the Mary Brown Center dome. Built in 1968, this laminar style dome is the site of the meeting for Bucky’s Old Man River’s City proposal of a mile wide domed city for East St Louis. From there the tour will return to the miniature earth Fuller Dome on the SIUE campus.
7:00pm – 7:30pm Katherine Dunham Style Dance Performance
You’ll be enchanted by a special Katherine Dunham Style Dance performance beneath the soaring Fuller Dome. Katherine Dunham was a world-renowned dancer and dance ethnologist. She combined modern dance of the 1940s with traditional Afro-Caribbean dance styles to create a technique that would support her innovative choreography. Later in life, while living in East St. Louis, Dunham was a professor at SIUE and reached out to her fellow SIU colleague Buckminster Fuller to envision a new urban plan for her beloved East St. Louis. The one-mile-wide domed city of the Old Man River’s City project was Bucky’s answer to Dunham’s request.
7:30pm – 9:00pm: Opening Reception Gallery Exhibition on Fuller
You are invited to attend an opening reception in the Fuller Dome Gallery of historic artifacts that belonged to Buckminster Fuller himself. This important collection featuring models, drawings, drafting tools, maps and more has been donated to the Fuller Dome by the Estate of Buckminster Fuller. The Fuller Dome Gallery was opened in the dome with a ribbon cutting in 2021 by Bucky’s daughter Allegra Fuller Snyder. The gallery was created in the Fuller Dome in collaboration with The University Museum at SIUE to host exhibitions in furtherance of the dome’s mission to “promote humanity’s sacred connection to the earth and each other.
Friday 3/28/25
8:00am – 11:30am: World Resource Simulation Center Part 1 • with local bioregional concerns
Join us in the Fuller Dome as Peter Meisen leads a working group to reactivate Buckminster Fuller’s World Resource Simulation Center concept. In the 1960’s Bucky proposed the creation of a 200 ft diameter geodesic three-quarter sphere for the SIUE campus that he referred to as the World Resource Simulation Center. The building did not get the funding it needed to be built but it would have served as a data visualization center conveying information about global resource and population distribution around the world. For decades, Peter Meisen has been running a version of this concept that he calls the Sim Center. Leveraging current technology and data streams we will be resurrecting Fuller’s idea live in the Fuller Dome with Peter Meisen leading a group of students and community leaders in a problem-solving and brainstorming session in the spirit of Bucky’s stated goal to “make the world work for 100% of humanity.”
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 3:30pm: World Resource Simulation Center Part 2 • with local bioregional concerns
4:30pm – 5:30pm: Poetry Performance & Bucky Readings • Jazz trio accompanies the readings
Students and writers from across the region will be coming together in the Fuller Dome to share poetry readings with the accompaniment of a Jazz trio. in 1961 Buckminster Fuller was appointed to the prestigious Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry at Harvard. This engaging program will be featuring readings of Bucky’s own poetry both recorded in his voice a performed live along with the original poetry of local writers.
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Bucky Play Performance
The theatrical one man play “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE” written by D. W. Jacobs returns to the Fuller Dome for three special performances. Actor Jon-Michael Rutter will play the role of Buckminster Fuller as he takes us on an emotional and inspiring journey through Fuller’s life. The dome in which these performances will be happening is a space that Fuller himself designed, built, and lectured in after its construction in 1971. The play was crafted by Jacobs from Fuller’s own words and this performance in the Fuller Dome will embody Bucky’s spirit in a truly unique way. Buckminster Fuller will be brought to life in front of an intimate audience within the miniature earth geodesic dome he created as an expression of the wholistically synergetic thinking that makes his’s legacy more and more relevant with each passing news cycle. Those in attendance for these Fuller Dome performances will be given the chance to gain a unique world view and will likely be left asking themselves to discover what one individual is able to do on behalf of humanity.
Saturday 3/29/25
8:00am – 11:30am: World Peace Game Part1
We will be playing Buckminster Fuller’s World Peace Game in the Fuller Dome. While a professor at SIU, Fuller conceived the World Peace Game to be played out on an enormous version of his, 1946 patented, Dymaxion Map. Participants will stand on a 27ft by 12ft version of Fuller’s world map representing our global population distribution across the continents. They will be assigned natural and technological resources corresponding to the populations they represent and tasked with figuring out ways to work together across the planet to avert conflict. The game is intended to model solutions to realize Fuller’s goal “to make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 4:30pm: World Peace Game Part2
5:30pm - 7:00pm: Geometric Model Building focus on children & families
In this hands-on session we will be building geometric models that echo the proportions of nature as well as Fuller’s geodesic geometry. All ages are encouraged to participate with a special invitation to children and families to discover primary geometric concepts through building models. Starter supplies of tooth picks and marshmallows will be provided and full geometric dome and sphere building kits will be available for purchase along with assistance on hand for those to build who are ready to deepen their understanding of Fullers concepts through modeling.
8:30pm – 10:00pm: Concert performer TBD
Sunday 3/30/25
10:30am – 11:30am: Soul Sunday (multifaith unity gathering)
Soul Sunday is an ongoing nondominational gathering every Sunday in the Fuller Dome. The heart of this spiritual gathering is the sharing of prayers, inspirational readings, and passages from the scriptures of many faiths. Beyond that, there is no set form. You are welcome to simply sit, meditate and enjoy the spiritual atmosphere, or take a more active role by bringing and reading spiritual writings that uplift you. All are welcome.
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (MUC cafeteria)
1:00pm – 2:00pm: Prayer for the Planet (with gospel choir)
3:00pm – 5:00pm: Sound Bath (exploration of dome acoustics)
Los Angeles based Ceremoni Sounds invites you to explore the unique acoustic properties of the Fuller Dome for an immersive and transformative sound bath experience. Aligning with Fuller's holistic worldview, this event integrates the principles of whole health and sound healing practices. As Fuller described, "One goes inside to go outside oneself and into the center of the Earth and thence outward to the stars in seconds. The Edwardsville Center becomes at once a cathedral of universal reality and a cathedral of universal mystery." Join us for this remarkable event and embark on a journey of inner and outer exploration!
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Bucky Play Performance
The theatrical one man play “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE” written by D. W. Jacobs returns to the Fuller Dome for three special performances. Actor Jon-Michael Rutter will play the role of Buckminster Fuller as he takes us on an emotional and inspiring journey through Fuller’s life. The dome in which these performances will be happening is a space that Fuller himself designed, built, and lectured in after its construction in 1971. The play was crafted by Jacobs from Fuller’s own words and this performance in the Fuller Dome will embody Bucky’s spirit in a truly unique way. Buckminster Fuller will be brought to life in front of an intimate audience within the miniature earth geodesic dome he created as an expression of the wholistically synergetic thinking that makes his’s legacy more and more relevant with each passing news cycle. Those in attendance for these Fuller Dome performances will be given the chance to gain a unique world view and will likely be left asking themselves to discover what one individual is able to do on behalf of humanity.
Monday 3/31/25 • 90th Day on the 90th Meridian
8:00am – 11:30am: Symposium on Fuller Part 1 (FREE)
Join in a day of sharing scholarly research pertaining to Fuller’s legacy. Fuller scholars, students and colleagues present fascinating reports and projects that inform our understanding of history while bringing the lessons learned to the contemporary challenges, we are all facing both locally and globally.
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Symposium on Fuller Part 2 (FREE)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Special 25th Anniversary Bucky Play Performance
The theatrical one man play “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE” written by D. W. Jacobs returns to the Fuller Dome for three special performances. Actor Jon-Michael Rutter will play the role of Buckminster Fuller as he takes us on an emotional and inspiring journey through Fuller’s life. The dome in which these performances will be happening is a space that Fuller himself designed, built, and lectured in after its construction in 1971. The play was crafted by Jacobs from Fuller’s own words and this performance in the Fuller Dome will embody Bucky’s spirit in a truly unique way. Buckminster Fuller will be brought to life in front of an intimate audience within the miniature earth geodesic dome he created as an expression of the wholistically synergetic thinking that makes his’s legacy more and more relevant with each passing news cycle. Those in attendance for these Fuller Dome performances will be given the chance to gain a unique world view and will likely be left asking themselves to discover what one individual is able to do on behalf of humanity.