As early as 1927, Fuller's design thinking incorporated "interior and exterior aerodynamics as a fundamental of the essentially invisible design problem of environmental controls".
It is an obvious factor in the design of the Dymaxion Car, but no other designer has been as prescient as Fuller in comprehending the relevance of aerodynamics to shelter design. The Dymaxion Deployment Unit was shaped in such a way that it possessed a natural interior cooling system as a direct payoff from aerodynamics. Models of the Dymaxion Dwelling Machine were tested in wind tunnels.
Apart from air-conditioning, the benefits also concern the stresses on the structure of the shelter, and energy-conservation, in that the vacuum drag on a building tends to suck out its heat.
Awareness of aerodynamics is another aspect of Fuller's dynamic conception of design: taking a relativistic view of energy patterns means that not only vehicles but buildings are seen as being in relative motion.
© Paul Taylor 2001