It was 1927. Buckminster Fuller's wife had just given birth to another baby girl. They were living in Chicago, Illinois. He had no job and no money, so he felt he was a complete failure.

Bucky Fuller walked through the streets of Chicago along Lake Michigan. He stood silently on the shore. He considered killing himself. Then, as he explained later, he realized that he didn't have the right to kill himself. He said he felt something inside him the day. He called it the Greater Intelligence or God. It told him he belonged to the universe.

So Bucky Fuller decided to live. And he would live the way he thought best. He promised to spend his remaining years in search of designs that could make human experience on Earth easier. This began his creative period.

Fuller's first design was the dymaxion house. It was not built at the place it would stand. It was built in a factory, then moved. It didn't cost much to build. And it didn't look like a traditional house in America. Its roof hung from a huge support in the center. Its walls were made of glass. It contained everything needed for people to live. Power came from the sun. Water was cleaned and reused.

Fuller then designed and built the dymaxion car. It looked a little like the body of an airplane. It had three wheels instead of four. It could go as far as one-hundred-and-eighty kilometers an hour. It carried up to twelve passengers.

Several companies were interested in building and selling Fuller's house and car. But his designs were so different, so extreme, that banks were unwilling to lend money for the projects. So the dymaxion house—which could have provided low—cost housing for everyone—was never built. And the dymaxion car—which could have provided safe, pollution-free transportation using little gasoline—was never produced.