Question

Designed to be dismantled, packed into a tube, and taken along when the family moved, the Dymaxion House (1947) was described as a "jaunty little flying saucer with a fin on top." Only two prototypes of the 1,075-square-foot (100-square-meter) house were ever built. The sole survivor is now owned by the Henry Ford Museum. Who was the designer and how much did the house weigh?

Answer

Buckminster Fuller designed and hoped to mass-produce the 6000-pound (2720-kilogram) Dymaxion House. Originally designed in 1927, construction only became possible with the post-World War II availability of aluminum alloy. Lack of financing and rumors that the building was cold and leaky killed the project.