Jay Baldwin, Student of Buckminster Fuller, Designs Efficient Truck Bed Camper Jay Baldwin, Student of Buckminster Fuller, Designs Efficient Truck Bed Camper

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We asked the inventor-illustrator Steven M. Johnson to find examples of products and ideas that move the world forward in creative ways. Even as the nation moves away from reliance on heavy or inefficient fossil-fueled vehicles, many Americans still drive motorhomes, haul trailers, or drive pickup trucks with camper tops. This week, Johnson reports on Jay Baldwin’s Quickup Camper, which mounts on a flatbed pickup and transforms from an aerodynamic box to a large, insulated room with a kitchen, dinette, double bed, and ample storage. Fully loaded with the 800-pound Quickup Camper, Baldwin's Ford F150 achieves more than 20 mpg on the highway, with steady side-wind behavior and agile handling. Jay developed a passion for efficient design as a student of Bucky Fuller in the 1950s, was an early pioneer in the development of geodesic domes, and is one of a group of designer “outlaws” featured in a 1994 documentary film Ecological Design; Inventing the Future.