Domes are common public structures, being used in government
legislature buildings, sports complexes and religious buildings…even as covers
for road salt. As homes, they are less common, although the igloo is a notable
exception. And that’s too bad, because domes are incredibly strong structures
that enclose a volume of space more economically than conventional architecture
that is based on squares and rectangles. In a dome, the roof and exterior walls
are integrated into a continuous curved surface, which removes the need for the
space- and material-wasting interior support walls and attic. Dome dwellers also
enjoy more efficient and less expensive use of heating and cooling resources,
since a dome’s decreased surface area allows less heat to escape in the winter
and infiltrate in the summer, and air circulates naturally in a round structure.
Geodesic
Domes
(pictured here is a Timberline Geodesic Dome)
All domes are rounded, but in the U.S. in 1954, Buckminster
Fuller patented a design, called “geodesic,” which applied triangles to dome
construction. The Buckminster Fuller geodesic design has inspired many famous
dome structures including Epcot Center in Florida, the American pavilion at the
1967 Montreal Expo, as well as the Windstar Foundations Bio-dome in Snowmass,
Colorado, a 50-foot diameter structure that grows approximately 4,000 pounds of
fruits and vegetables year-round.
Bucky’s method of building a dome uses much less material and
allows the spanning of greater distances than ever before. The large amount of
lumber used in conventional construction creates a lot of weight, which requires
more concrete in the foundation, not to mention wasting trees. Since triangles
are the most rigid shape known, the geodesic dome is extremely strong, although
light weight. Geodesic domes have been wind-tunnel tested to withstand 200 mph
winds and can withstand heavy snow loads.
There are two methods of building a geodesic dome. They are...
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