Geodesic Magic: There’s No Place Like Dome

Geodesic Magic: There’s No Place Like Dome

A tour – with accompanying images – of some of the remarkable geodesic domes of planet Earth.

Geodesic domes have been with us for over fifty years but are still hardly common.  Partly or fully spherical, they consist of a shell of great circles which rest upon the top of a sphere.  Here are some of the more famous on the planet.

The Montreal Biosphere

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The World Fair of 1967 was a fair old time ago but one extreme example of recycling old buildings is the Montreal Biosphere which is now the home of an environmental museum.  The original acrylic shells that enclosed the dome are now gone – the steel remains however.  At the time of the World Fair the building housed the longest ever escalator (thirty seven meters in length).  Unfortunately a 1976 fire destroyed the acrylic shells but the building was bought by Environment Canada in 1980 and it is now an interactive museum.  One of the highlights of a visit to Montreal, the museum is devoted to showing people about how the Great Lakes ecosystem can be developed in a sustainable way – this is done through a variety of exhibitions and interactive pieces.

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The Eden Project

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Welcome to the largest Greenhouse in the world.  If Swine Flu kills ninety nine percent of us this winter then the survivors could do far worse than to head down to this set of artificial biomes in which the ecosystems of the world are recreated.  Each dome is constructed from a few pentagons plus hundreds of hexagons that connect the whole structure together.  Opened to the public in 2001 this has all the elements of a classic geodesic dome.  This is a partly spherical structure that has a network of large circles (known as geodesics) which lie on a sphere.  The geodesics form elements in the shape of triangles that have great rigidity and also make sure that stress is distributed evenly across the whole structure.

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31 Comments

Juancav, posted this comment on Jul 4th, 2009

Engineering at its tops application,impeccable work and so is the article.

Alex, posted this comment on Jul 5th, 2009

Thats rally intresting.. I would love to go to any of those places

chris, posted this comment on Jul 5th, 2009

One of my favorites – The Geode at Parque de la Villette in Paris

Charlie (Colorado), posted this comment on Jul 5th, 2009

Well, actually baseball in Japan far predates the Occupation; the Japanese professional baseball organization was founded in 1920. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_in_Japan

Tony S, posted this comment on Jul 5th, 2009

The Desert Dome in Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo (amazing place) is a geodesic as well!

Tim, posted this comment on Jul 6th, 2009

The Kaiser Aluminium Dome in Honolulu. Built around 1957, it was a 1000 seat auditorium and served as a makeshift recording studio for Arthur Lyman on most of his albums. Sadly, it was razed in 1999.

Engineer on the Run, posted this comment on Jul 10th, 2009

Architecturally/structurally Bucky had many of the same problems as F. L. Wright – Leaks and associated deterioration. (Look at Union Tank Car close-up.) Plus there are problems with fitting adjunctive structures, fenestrations, etc. and supporting concentrated loads Green houses and the like are pretty much the extent of significant enclosure applications.

Bobby Pfeiffer, posted this comment on Nov 13th, 2009

Very inspirational! The only thing I don’t get is why there’s a photo of a building at London’s Oxford Street in the beginning?! It is not a dome :)

Louie Jerome, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Interesting subject matter and some great photos. The Eden Project is fascinating but I haven’t yet managed to visit.

deep blue, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Great architectural designs. Thanks for sharing.

Mark Gordon Brown, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

You forgot my favorites, the “Mark Brown Domes”
completed in 2007 and 2008, these two domes are in my yard and house my pheasants. I built them using a system called “Starplates”.

Francois Hagnere, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Very interesting and enjoyable article indeed. Have been to “La Géode” in Poitiers, France ?
Take care,
François

DA Cournean, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Awesome presentation. Amazing architecture!

Littlekid137, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Astrodome. Started domes of in a bang. Should’ve been included in this list. Great list however!!

clay hurtubise, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Interesting piece. My brother worked on the first geodesic home in Maine in the 70’s.
Thanks,
Clay

Unofre Pili, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Very spectacular and breathtaking to behold.

James Dimick, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

WOW! Spectacular!

Mr Ghaz, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Excellent!!..Wonderful piece and well presented..well done and thanx for sharing.

Anne Lyken Garner, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Stunning. I went to Epcot centre and of course, the Eden project. I loved them both.

Melody Arcamo Lagrimas, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Loved that house in Missouri. The Nagoya Dome looks like The Araneta Coliseum in Manila (the big dome), but Nagoya is much, much bigger, I guess.

Janet Meyer, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Beautiful, and so interesting. Janet

Judy T Lloyd, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Again an interesting displays of pictures and descriptions of the sites.

lindalulu, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Nice article filled with great photos

Dr Robert Brignall, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

At the expense of showing my age, I remember Buckminster Fuller as being an inspirational figure to young people in the 1960s and 70s. I had not thought about him in quite some time. I think he would have appreciated this piece as much as I did. Well done. RB

OhSugar, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

These are all very exciting to view. Great presentation!

godsworker, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

wonderfull

godsworker, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

i don wanna live at that but is wonderfull

prasetio, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

great building

smookie, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Amazing architecture! Especially Missouri Botanical Gardens and Spaceship Earth.

CutestPrincess, posted this comment on Apr 9th, 2010

Well researched with fantastic photos.

MJ Northumbria, posted this comment on Apr 11th, 2010

Excellent work

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