Drop City Photos
Drop City, a “live-in” work of Drop Art, was the first rural commune of the 1960s,
and the first to be grounded in art practice. A community of many innovations,
it was the site of one of the first solar-heated buildings of that decade.
Established in 1965, the four founders were soon joined by a core group of approximately 12 adults and children. By the end of 1968 the original occupants had moved to Boulder, Colorado to start an artists' cooperative, "Criss-Cross", whose purpose, like Drop City's, was to function in "synergetic" interaction between peers to create experimental artistic innovation. Among the innovative endeavors to evolve out of Drop-City are:
• in 1969, the early solar energy company - Zomeworks, in Albuquerque;
• the artists' group "Criss-Cross", operative in New York and Colorado in the 1970s;
• the development of the "61-Zone System" by ZomeTool of Boulder, Colorado;
• and in the early 1980s, an important discovery of a cubic fusion of interpenetrating fractal tetrahedra by Richard Kallweit.
Click here to view a Drop City segment from BBC's documentary "Towards Tomorrow" (circa 1968).
1st dome (with TV antenna) built at Drop City, June 1965, was the initial
Drop City residence of JoAnn and Gene Bernofsky. Gene a filmmaker has made
more than 40 films addressing environmental issues. JoAnn, educated under the
"geometric play" system of Friedrich Froebel, is a teacher, ceramic artist,and weaver.
The structure,based on a dodecahedron,was not a true Fuller geodesic.
The 1st dome became the residence of Jill Speed and poet John Curl, after being
painted by Linda Fleming and Dean Fleming- artists from Park Place gallery, NYC,
who co-founded the "Libre" artists community near Gardner Colorado. Click here
to look inside John Curl's recent novel,"Memories of Drop City" (2007).
Susie and Luther Richert (age 2 mo. in photo) inspect construction progress of
Drop City's passive solar collector - designed by Zomeworks,1967.
Drop City represents the origination of "seeds of green", and Bucky Fuller’s
philosophy of “doing more with less". - (Architectural Record, April 2008).
Click here to access Alastair Gordon's "True Green-
Lessons from 1960s’-70s’ Counterculture Architecture"
The Icosadome, designed by Richard Kallweit and Clark Richert (1965),
initially served as the kitchen pantry and later as the chicken coop.
A 40' diameter theater (under construction), was designed to accommodate
360° multi-media projections from a central projection booth
(under the floor).
The Cartop Dome (left) was the 1st Drop City dome to be constructed of pieced together
sections of car metal. Total cost of the cartops was $7. (1966)
and the first to be grounded in art practice. A community of many innovations,
it was the site of one of the first solar-heated buildings of that decade.
Established in 1965, the four founders were soon joined by a core group of approximately 12 adults and children. By the end of 1968 the original occupants had moved to Boulder, Colorado to start an artists' cooperative, "Criss-Cross", whose purpose, like Drop City's, was to function in "synergetic" interaction between peers to create experimental artistic innovation. Among the innovative endeavors to evolve out of Drop-City are:
• in 1969, the early solar energy company - Zomeworks, in Albuquerque;
• the artists' group "Criss-Cross", operative in New York and Colorado in the 1970s;
• the development of the "61-Zone System" by ZomeTool of Boulder, Colorado;
• and in the early 1980s, an important discovery of a cubic fusion of interpenetrating fractal tetrahedra by Richard Kallweit.
Click here to view a Drop City segment from BBC's documentary "Towards Tomorrow" (circa 1968).
1st Dome
1st dome (with TV antenna) built at Drop City, June 1965, was the initial
Drop City residence of JoAnn and Gene Bernofsky. Gene a filmmaker has made
more than 40 films addressing environmental issues. JoAnn, educated under the
"geometric play" system of Friedrich Froebel, is a teacher, ceramic artist,and weaver.
The structure,based on a dodecahedron,was not a true Fuller geodesic.
Curl Dome
The 1st dome became the residence of Jill Speed and poet John Curl, after being
painted by Linda Fleming and Dean Fleming- artists from Park Place gallery, NYC,
who co-founded the "Libre" artists community near Gardner Colorado. Click here
to look inside John Curl's recent novel,"Memories of Drop City" (2007).
Solar Dome
Susie and Luther Richert (age 2 mo. in photo) inspect construction progress of
Drop City's passive solar collector - designed by Zomeworks,1967.
Drop City represents the origination of "seeds of green", and Bucky Fuller’s
philosophy of “doing more with less". - (Architectural Record, April 2008).
Click here to access Alastair Gordon's "True Green-
Lessons from 1960s’-70s’ Counterculture Architecture"
Icosadome
The Icosadome, designed by Richard Kallweit and Clark Richert (1965),
initially served as the kitchen pantry and later as the chicken coop.
Theater Dome
A 40' diameter theater (under construction), was designed to accommodate
360° multi-media projections from a central projection booth
(under the floor).
Cartop Dome and Theater
The Cartop Dome (left) was the 1st Drop City dome to be constructed of pieced together
sections of car metal. Total cost of the cartops was $7. (1966)
