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).
By late 1969 all of the long-time residents had departed and the community was
abandoned to transients. By 1973, Drop City had become the world’s first geodesic
ghost town. The last standing Drop City dome was the theater dome.
Photo:1998
The 1st floor of the "Hole", a 2-story structure,
was the coolest place to hang out on a hot summer day
(being built partially underground in a hole we dug into a shale slope).
The Rabbit dome, (named after resident/poet "Peter Rabbit")
was the 4th living unit built at Drop City.
Painting design:Dean & Linda Fleming
The Complex, designed by Steve Baer, was Drop City’s largest building.
A structure made of three 40-foot fused rhombicosidodecahedra,
the Complex housed a community kitchen, a large meeting and entertainment area,
a film workshop, a television loft, 2 bathrooms and shower, a laundry room,
and a visitor’s area.
The Cartop Dome (with interior paintings by Richard Kallweit, Joe Clower, Charles DiJulio,
and Clark Richert ) built at Drop City, was the 1966 - 68 residence of
Richard Kallweit, Susie Lybarger and and Clark Richert.
a Drop City installation was featured in Billy Klüver and Robert Rauschenberg’s landmark exhibition, Experiments in Art & Technology (E.A.T.), at the Brooklyn Museum in 1968.
The cartop dome was Steve Baer's first "zome". Based on
a zonohedron, (an "exploded" rhombic dodecahedron), it's parallel zones
were stretched apart to create a volumetric interior.
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).
Theater (and dog)
By late 1969 all of the long-time residents had departed and the community was
abandoned to transients. By 1973, Drop City had become the world’s first geodesic
ghost town. The last standing Drop City dome was the theater dome.
Photo:1998
5.1 The Hole
The 1st floor of the "Hole", a 2-story structure,
was the coolest place to hang out on a hot summer day
(being built partially underground in a hole we dug into a shale slope).
Rabbit Dome
The Rabbit dome, (named after resident/poet "Peter Rabbit")
was the 4th living unit built at Drop City.
Painting design:Dean & Linda Fleming
6.5 DC Complex
The Complex, designed by Steve Baer, was Drop City’s largest building.
A structure made of three 40-foot fused rhombicosidodecahedra,
the Complex housed a community kitchen, a large meeting and entertainment area,
a film workshop, a television loft, 2 bathrooms and shower, a laundry room,
and a visitor’s area.
Cartop Dome Interior
The Cartop Dome (with interior paintings by Richard Kallweit, Joe Clower, Charles DiJulio,
and Clark Richert ) built at Drop City, was the 1966 - 68 residence of
Richard Kallweit, Susie Lybarger and and Clark Richert.
EAT Dome
a Drop City installation was featured in Billy Klüver and Robert Rauschenberg’s landmark exhibition, Experiments in Art & Technology (E.A.T.), at the Brooklyn Museum in 1968.
Baer Cartop
The cartop dome was Steve Baer's first "zome". Based on
a zonohedron, (an "exploded" rhombic dodecahedron), it's parallel zones
were stretched apart to create a volumetric interior.
