J. Baldwin
James Tennant Baldwin (whose books and articles have been published under the names J. Baldwin and James T. Baldwin) is an American industrial-designer and writer born in 1934. A one-time student of Buckminster Fuller, some, though not all, of Baldwin's work either has been inspired by Fuller's principles or (in the case of his published writing) has popularized and interpreted Fuller's ideas and achievements. In his own right, Baldwin has been a figure in the American designers' efforts to incorporate solar, wind, and other renewable sources of energy.
J. Baldwin worked with Buckminster Fuller prior to his (Baldwin’s) graduation from University of Michigan in 1955. Baldwin went on to do graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley. As a young designer in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, he designed advanced camping equipment with Bill Moss Associates. Thereafter, he taught simultaneously at San Francisco State College, San Francisco Art Institute, and Oakland College of Arts and Crafts for about six years.
The period 1968-69 found him both a visiting lecturer at Southern Illinois University and the design editor of the innovative Whole Earth Catalog. (The Catalog came out in many editions between 1968 and 1986, and Baldwin continued to edit and write for both the Catalog and an offshoot publication, CoEvolution Quarterly.) In the early ‘70s, Baldwin taught at Pacific High School.
Baldwin was at the center of experimentation with geodesic domes (an unconventional building-design approach explored by Fuller). He also dove enthusiastically into the application of renewable energy sources in homes and in food-production facilities, working with Integrated Living Spaces (in New Mexico) and with Dr John Todd and the other New Alchemists involved with the "Ark" project.
During the Jerry Brown administration, Baldwin worked in the California Office of Appropriate Technology. Since the 1970s, Baldwin has continued both to work in association with numerous organizations and projects as a designer. In the 1990s, he wrote a book about Buckminster Fuller, his ideas, experiments, and influence, Bucky Works: Buckminster Fuller's Ideas for Today. In the late '90s, Baldwin time working at the Rocky Mountain Institute in the research, design, and development of the ultralight, ultra-efficient "Hypercar" - a prototype by way of which independent designers hope to show the way for the world's auto manufacturers. With conceptual development having begun in 1991, the current version of the Hypercar uses a small generator to power an electric motor in each wheel.
J. Baldwin continues to teach design at the college level.
Books
Author: Bucky Works: Buckminster Fuller's Ideas for Today, 1997.
Co-editor (with Stewart Brand and others ): Whole Earth Catalogs, 1968-1998.
Co-editor (with Stewart Brand ): Soft Technology, 1978.
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