The commission for an installation at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris in 1995 was a spectacular opportunity for the thirty-two-year-old Marc Newson, who, taking inspiration from the recently discovered buckminsterfullerene, the spherical C60 molecule named for its resemblance to R. Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic structures, created sixty concave triform modules in different colours that joined together to form a self-supporting structure. The individual units could also be used as single seats. The modules were made of polyurethane foam and their strong colour surfaces were applied with an electrostatic flocking technique. The installation, entitled 'Bucky, de la chimie au design', measured nearly seven meters in diameter and brought together Newson’s interest in science, art, and design. Since 1997, the German company Löffler has produced a polyethylene version of the modules.
Text: Libby Sellers
