Charas: The Improbable Dome Builders

Syeus Mottel. R. Buckminster Fuller, introduction. New York: Drake Publishers, 1973. 8 ¼ x 10 ¼ in. Offset. In red cloth boards with pictorial dust jacket. 191 pp.

The story of the geodesic domes built in the early 1970s in the Lower East Side and the lives of the folks who built it.

Charas, an acronym formed from the names of its founders, grew out of the Real Great Society, an organization of Puerto Rican youth in the Lower East Side. The group, including several formerly incarcerated individuals, met with the architect responsible for popularizing the geodesic dome, R. Buckminster Fuller, and consulted with him throughout the process. They built several geodesic domes and gardens, and provided low income housing to community members. The group later squatted Christodora House along with former Black Panthers; kicked out by the city, they moved into the former elementary school, P.S. 64, and formed El Bohio - a community center that would last until 2001 when the building changed hands and the organization was evicted. The building, now landmarked, has sat vacant since the eviction and protests to reopen the Charas / El Bohio center continue today.

A scarce book documenting the spread of utopian architecture and a critical moment in the history of the Lower East Side.

Very good. Edge wear to dustjacket, including a few small closed tears. Light foxing to flypapers, and slight bowing of spine. Otherwise a tight, clean copy.