Once upon a time, some kooks wanted to build a floating tetrahedral city in the middle of the San Francisco Bay

Yep. It was going to be called Triton City. Cracked explains:

Triton anticipated a lower maximum population of just over 100,000 people, and was also to be the first fully organic city, complete with a desalination system to re-circulate ocean water. Schematics for Triton were sent to the United States Navy’s Bureau of Ships, to check it for “water-worthiness,” stability and organic capabilities, then off to the Bureau of Yards and Docks to see whether or not they could even build this thing, specifically at the cost they had projected. Both Bureaus gave the thumbs up, and the Navy’s cost estimate came within 10% of Buckminster’s. And that’s probably the craziest part of Triton: At every stage, it was going to work.

So why aren’t you living in a floating metal pyramid, mocking the ocean and all her impotent fury? Like all things, you can probably blame Lyndon B. Johnson for that: The plans had taken too long to get approval, and by the time they did, LBJ left office and took all support for the idea with him. He even took the Triton City model when he left and put it in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library & Museum. You guys didn’t play nice, so he just took his futuristic water-city and went home. [link]

Bummer! (Although it’s probably for the best; today we don’t have to watch blog trolls complain about Triton douchebags invading the Mission.)

[via husk.org]

7 Responses to “Once upon a time, some kooks wanted to build a floating tetrahedral city in the middle of the San Francisco Bay”

  1. David Interesting says:

    Theres a really good Buckminster Fuller show at the MoMA right now.

  2. DomPara says:

    That looks obnoxious as hell. Why go to all the trouble of building something that floats freely when you’re going to trap it behind a bunch of bridges? Put it in the ocean.

  3. Fact Checker says:

    The photo is a little misleading.
    The pyramid shown is a square pyramid (5 sides, including the base).
    The article refers to a tetrahedron, which has 4 triangular sides.

  4. pedrobot says:

    Michael:
    Let’s not forget she’s the one that gave us the idea for that ocean-top town called “Bluthton.”

    George, Sr.:
    Oh, big deal, I had that same basic idea years ago.

  5. Bucky says:

    Tetra City ≠ Triton City.