Name: Buckyball by Leo Villareal
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Buckyball by Leo Villareal

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United States

San Francisco

Buckyball by Leo Villareal

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Location: San Francisco, United States

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Best Hikes to Buckyball by Leo Villareal

4.7

(9)

218

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1. Crissy Field East Beach – View of the Golden Gate Bridge loop from Union Square/Market Street

21.1km

05:36

200m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Expert

5.0

(10)

169

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2. Chinatown (Dragon Gate) – Union Square loop from Chinatown-Rose Pak

9.08km

02:23

70m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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3. Pier 39 – Crab Topiary, Pier 39 loop from Folsom

14.2km

03:39

60m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

Tips

Katrien

April 30, 2025

Inspired by the shape first explored by futurist and inventor Buckminster Fuller, Buckyball is a towering, 25-foot-tall illuminated sculpture featuring two nested geodesic spheres. Buckyball is comprised of 4,500 LED lights arranged along a series of pentagons and hexagons. The lighting is controlled by custom software programmed by Villareal to display more than 16 million different colors. The lights dynamically shift and fade in both sequential patterns and random order, generating vibrant hues that brighten the Exploratorium’s public space in both daylight and moonlight.

The spherical, football-like shape of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes, which form the basis for Villareal’s work, was discovered by scientists in a carbon molecule in 1985. In his honor, it was named “Buckminsterfullerene” or “Buckyball” and has been avidly studied by scientists and materials scientists ever since.

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Elevation 10 m

Weather

Monday 6 October

24°C

17°C

0 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 6.0 km/h

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See hikes here

Take Me There

Location: San Francisco, United States

Buckyball by Leo Villareal

1. Crissy Field East Beach – View of the Golden Gate Bridge loop from Union Square/Market Street

2. Chinatown (Dragon Gate) – Union Square loop from Chinatown-Rose Pak

3. Pier 39 – Crab Topiary, Pier 39 loop from Folsom

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