As a manufacturer of whole-building products, The Bark House is honored to be a part of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge Curated Archive as a Catalyst Program recipient. The Bark House architectural product design and business process are based on a whole-systems design philosophy that is regenerative to the environment, local culture and challenged economy in a remote region of the country. The Bark House business process has received numerous regional and state business awards. Bark House products include unique bark wall coverings of pure nature that have been celebrated in highly acclaimed and awarded architectural projects across the world.
From the Buckminster Fuller Institute in NEW YORK CITY – “In honor of the 123rd birthday on July 12th of renowned futurist and inventor, R. Buckminster Fuller, the Fuller Challenge team has unveiled a curated archive of 350 of the best entries received over the ten-year history of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Challenge prize program. Organized by geographic location, impact areas, and status achieved in the Fuller Challenge selection process, this collection of projects reveals a stunning diversity of design initiatives at work in the world today which span the planet. Each project selected for inclusion was rigorously vetted for adherence to the program’s now renowned comprehensive, whole-systems design criteria. The archive, designed and curated by a team led by Fuller Challenge Program Manager Megan Ahearn, showcases an emerging field of practice of comprehensive, whole systems designers and will become an indispensable tool for students, educators and the design community seeking successful models and case studies to investigate and replicate.”
“When we set out to create the Fuller Challenge we hoped to accomplish a few things: we wanted to honor the legacy of Fuller and create a prestigious program that would encourage innovation and recognize integrity; we hoped to draw attention and support to the thinkers and doers applying a comprehensive, whole-systems approach to designing solutions to the great challenges we face today; we hoped to use the tool of an innovation prize to demonstrate the importance of the whole systems approach and its integral function in design-thinking; and we set our sites to inspire a new generation to take up Fuller’s Challenge to transform our world through design, by showcasing world-class projects and celebrating the people behind them”, remarked Elizabeth Thompson, Founding Director of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. “Looking back I think we made progress toward a few of these lofty goals and I am very proud that this prize has been recognized as an important honor for those in the social innovation and design fields. With the conclusion of this program, we felt it important to offer an accessible public archive of the best projects in the hopes that others will draw inspiration from and lend support to this remarkable field or practice.”
From Chris McCurry of The Bark House, “Being honored by the Buckminster Fuller Challenge is a tremendous accomplishment because of the integrity that the BF Institute represents as a whole-systems strategy. This is a rare attribute. We are a small company located in an isolated place unlike large design houses in New York or San Francisco. I think that one aspect that made us an honoree in the Buckminster Fuller Challenge is our deep connection to place and the deliberate implementation of a whole-building system that honors the essence of this place and connects it so deeply to the rest of the world. Our products and curator stories encompass a unique struggle for life that is reaching toward the sunshine. ”
The full press release from Buckminster Fuller and a creative film about the Fuller Challenge can be found here.
To view an archive of The Bark House submission, please visit: https://www.bfi.org/ideaindex/projects/2014/bark-house
To browse a collection of videos that express the essence of a beautiful place: barkhouse.com/authentic.
For more information on the Bark House and whole-building, please contact Chris McCurry at [email protected].