By the time Medard Gabel ‘71 arrived at Southern Illinois University, R. Buckminster Fuller had already appeared on the cover of Time magazine. For him and many students, Fuller’s presence on campus was felt, but the man himself could be elusive.
Recruited in 1959 by then-SIU President Delyte Morris and design professor Harold Cohen, he was already known as an inventor, designer, and architect with a flair for sweeping ideas. Until Fuller’s departure in the early 1970s, SIU gave him the institutional space to think across boundaries on matters that incorporated architecture, engineering, philosophy, and art. His lifelong push to do more, and do it more efficiently for the good of society, shaped his work on housing, design, and resource management -- the lasting physical legacy of which is found in the geodesic dome home he built, where he and his wife, Anne, lived during their time in Carbondale. The home is now a museum and visitor center.
Gabel remembers the days when Fuller would be on campus. “I studied in the design department, and when he came to town, he would often give lectures, either in our department or at the university, which would fill up an auditorium,” he said.
Despite being at the same university, Gabel didn’t engage directly with Fuller until the summer of 1969, when he participated in a summer institute at the New York Studio School – the very first of Fuller’s “World Games.” There, Gabel describes hearing roughly four to six hours of lectures per day for two weeks from “Bucky” (as Fuller was often referred to) that were “filled with brilliance.”
“Fuller had made some interesting claims that you could increase the efficiency of the global energy system by interconnecting the electric grids,” Gabel said. “Essentially, what would happen if we created a world grid?”
From there, Gabel and several other 20-something participants spent the rest of their time in an exercise to do just that. “We modeled our approach off of war games, but instead of devising scenarios to beat a government or ideology, we sought to face what Fuller believed were the real enemies of humanity – illiteracy, poverty, hunger, energy shortages, and climate change,” he said. “It was an incredible learning experience about what was going on in the world and what was possible.”
Gabel spent the rest of his time at SIU working in Fuller’s office, a center in an off-campus building called the World Resources Inventory: Human Trends and Needs, where he conducted research and helped plan and deliver subsequent World Games, including the one on campus in 1970. He followed Fuller when his operations moved to Philadelphia.
Gabel himself has become a scholar and author of seven books focused on solutions to world food and energy problems and other topics. He’s led workshops around the world, including for thousands of people, including members of major companies and the United States Congress. He is currently the executive director of the non-profit research and development organization EarthGame. He has developed NewWorld Game, an AI-assisted platform for tackling global and local issues, which he sees as the culmination of his work on the World Game.
Medard Gabel. Photo Provided.
Despite his passing in 1983, through the power of the NewWorld Game platform, Fuller’s knowledge base has been programmed into the system as a consultable AI colleague (along with other notable figures like Nelson Mandela). Combined with an expansive network of data points, Gabel says the platform reflects a continuation of Fuller’s work, now with tools that can help not only devise strategic systems for good but also help people implement them. Among the program’s early beneficiaries, Gabel said, was a group from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who developed and implemented a plan to provide electricity to health centers, where only 20 percent of healthcare facilities have access to electricity.
Inside the Fuller Dome Home. Photo by Mike Chervinko.
Fuller Futures Festival and Conference begins April 22
Gabel is one of several alumni influenced by Fuller, who will be returning to SIU Carbondale later this spring for the Fuller Futures Festival and Conference. Beginning on Earth Day, April 22, the festival is a five-day immersive program inspired by the unfinished work of the late luminary.
Described as both “rigorous and celebratory,” the event invites imagination, experimentation, and constructive solutions to address modern, complex global issues.
Elizabeth Donoghue, president of the Fuller Dome Home Museum, assistant director of the University Honors Program, and chair of the SIU Sustainability Council, said the program invites new generations to continue Fuller’s work of thinking globally, acting responsibly, and using technology in the service of life.
“This is a convergence that bridges generations, and it’s possible because of the legacy Buckminster Fuller left here at SIU during one of the most prolific periods of his life,” Donoghue said. “We have the immense privilege of welcoming individuals who worked alongside Fuller, some of them former SIU students, who went on to build remarkable careers and dedicate their lives to advancing his ideas. Many of them will be together on this campus again for the first time in decades.”
A central feature of the festival will be the relaunch of the World Game. Sessions will be facilitated by collaborators, who will present the history of the game to participants and bridge its early systems modeling to contemporary global data analysis.
Organizers also say the festival is a true town-and-gown event, as the City of Carbondale is co-hosting. Stan Reno, city manager and alumnus, said Carbondale has long been a place where bold ideas take root.
“Hosting Fuller Futures is not only a celebration of Buckminster Fuller’s legacy here, but also an affirmation of our community’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and inclusive opportunity,” Reno said. “We are proud to partner with SIU and our cultural institutions to welcome thinkers and creators from around the world to Carbondale.”
Current students of SIU, Donoghue said, are the most important focus of the event, as their generation will be the one charged with moving society forward. “When you begin talking about Fuller’s optimism and his belief that we can make the world work for everyone, they recognize themselves in that call,” she said. “To bring all of that together here, in the center of the country, at a moment when the world feels fragmented, and solutions are urgently needed, is powerful. We absolutely honor Fuller’s legacy. But this is not simply about preservation. It is about practice. Many of his ideas were ahead of their time. The time for them is now.”
