Geodesic domes are strong, stable structures made of struts arranged in regular polyhedra. Buckminster Fuller popularized them in the 1950s and believed they could alleviate housing problems. They have advantages such as being streamlined and solar-heated, but their complexity increases construction costs and makes it difficult to follow building codes. While some problems have been solved, geodesic domes are still unpopular as residential facilities. Famous examples include Walt Disney’s Spaceship Earth and the Eden Project in the UK.
Geodesic domes are structures that approximate spheres or partial spheres by arranging struts in regular polyhedra around the sphere’s surface. Geodesic domes can consist of triangles, hexagons or other polyhedra. The structures are extremely strong and stable and offer the largest volume-to-weight ratio of all known linear structures.
While Walter Bauersfield built the first geodesic dome in Germany in 1922, the structure is often associated with Buckminster Fuller, who developed and popularized geodesic domes in the United States in the 1950s. Fuller also obtained a patent for the structure. Because of the many benefits of geodesic domes, including the relative ease with which they can be built and their more effective use of building materials, Fuller believed they could alleviate housing problems around the world. He also lived in his geodesic dome.
Geodesic domes have some advantages beyond those already mentioned. They are streamlined, withstand strong winds well, and are particularly susceptible to solar heating. In addition to being very strong, the geodesic dome is the only man-made structure that increases in strength in proportion to its size.
While there are a few geodesic domes around the world, mostly comprising public and corporate structures, they have never caught on as housing for a variety of reasons. First, their complexity increases construction costs. In addition, their unusual structure makes it difficult to follow certain building codes and regulations, such as those governing the placement of fireplaces, fire escapes and windows. Other issues include the unusual distribution of moisture within a dome, which can tend to degrade furniture, and the difficulty of partitioning the structure to ensure the privacy of others within the home. Geodesic domes also have a tendency to leak during rains and furniture made for standard rectangular homes can be awkward to fit inside a dome.
Many of these problems have been solved by improving construction over the years, and there are now simple-to-assemble kits with which people can build their own geodesic domes for much less than the cost of a conventional home. However, they are still unpopular as residential facilities. There are many famous geodesic domes around the world, including Walt Disney’s Spaceship Earth at Epcot in Orlando, Florida; the Fantasy Entertainment Complex and Multi-Purpose Arena in Japan; and the Eden Project environmental complex in Cornwall, UK.
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