‘Radical Curiosity: In the Orbit of Buckminster Fuller’ is the ArtScience Museum’s (ASM) celebration of Richard Buckminster ‘Bucky’ Fuller’s astonishing legacy of contributions to art, architecture, design, engineering, metaphysics, mathematics and education. The exhibition runs from January to July 2022.
To ensure an impactful visitor experience, ASM chose to work closely with Pico on the exhibition’s creative conceptualisation, overall brand identity, space planning and design. The Pico team was also responsible for the exhibition’s actual construction.
Visitors experienced the exhibition by moving clockwise along the oculus, with different colour themes creating zones for each chapter. The colour palette was inspired by Bucky’s work and various sources related to him, and struck a balance between modern hues and vintage aesthetics. Selected colours were juxtaposed to create a contrasting yet complementary visual for the space.
The journey began with an introduction to Bucky, with the space adorned with simple two-dimensional triangle – a shape that was the starting point to many of Fuller’s inventions. The exhibition brought visitors to explore facets of Fuller’s life and the breakthroughs made. For example, Chapter 2 explores how nature was incorporated into sustainable design, while Chapter 3 features a 8m metal dome – a shape invented by Bucky.
Interactive elements ensured that visitors learned through engagement with the displays. Acrylic panels could be moved to reveal the natural influences on Bucky’s ideas; in an explore-and-play zone, visitors of all ages could build their own mini-domes and other structures; in another chapter, visitors took on the duties of an engineer helping to ‘build’ Earth. In a final chapter, a triangular tunnel led visitors through Bucky’s own journey of imparting knowledge and leaving a legacy.