Here's a free printable cut-out sheet of the map! [ PDF, 1,1 MB ]
The Dymaxion map or Fuller map is a projection of a World map onto the surface of a polyhedron, which can then be unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the relative proportional integrity of the globe map. It was created by Buckminster Fuller, who claimed that his map had several advantages over other projections for world maps. It has less distortion of relative size of areas, most notably when compared to the Mercator projection; and less distortion of shapes of areas, notably when compared to the Gall-Peters projection. Other compromise projections attempt a similar trade-off.
More unusually, the Dymaxion map does not have any "right way up". Fuller argued frequently that in the universe there is no "up" and "down", or "north" and "south": only "in" and "out". Gravitational forces of the stars and planets created "in", meaning 'towards the gravitational center', and "out", meaning "away from the gravitational center". He attributed the north-up-superior/south-down-inferior presentation of most other world maps to cultural bias.
There isn't any "correct" view of the Dymaxion map. Peeling the triangular faces of the icosahedron apart in one way results in an icosahedral net that shows an almost contiguous land mass comprising all of earth's continents - not groups of continents divided by oceans. Peeling the solid apart in a different way presents a view of the world dominated by connected oceans surrounded by land (as shown in my picture).
from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_map_of_the_Earth
© Copyright 2009 Michael Paukner. All Rights Reserved.
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soypatrick 19 months ago | reply
oh Michael, you removed the PDF from your webspace? :-( can it be downloaded from a different location? I would love to print and fold it!
btw. have you been to the Buckminster Fuller workshops at AZW (MQ) last week? :-)
Michæl Paukner 19 months ago | reply
soypatrick 19 months ago | reply
thanks for updating, I'm eager to put this tiny piece of art together :D
sestrica alenyshka 17 months ago | reply
Thank you very much for PDF!!