| Fascinating
facts about the invention
of the Geodesic Dome by
R. Buckminster
Fuller in 1954. |
GEODESIC
DOME |
|
AT A GLANCE:
R. Buckminster Fuller was truly a man
ahead of his time.
Fuller was a practical philosopher who demonstrated his ideas
as inventions that he called “artifacts.” Some were built as prototypes;
others exist only on paper; all he felt were technically viable.
His most famous invention was the Geodesic Dome developed in 1954. Its
design created the lightest, strongest, and most cost-effective structure ever
devised. The geodesic dome is able to cover more space without
internal supports than any other enclosure.
|
Invention: |
Geodesic Dome |
|
|
Function: |
noun /
structure |
|
Definition: |
The lightest, strongest, and most cost-effective structure ever
devised. The geodesic dome is able to cover more space without
internal supports than any other enclosure. |
|
Patent: |
3,197,927
(U.S.) issued August 3, 1965 |
|
|
Inventor: |
R. Buckminster Fuller |
|
|
Criteria: |
First to
invent. First to patent. First practical. Entrepreneur. |
|
Birth: |
July 12,
1895 in Milton, Massachusetts |
|
Death: |
July 1, 1983 |
|
Nationality: |
American |
|
Buckminster Fuller is best
known for the invention of the geodesic dome, the lightest, strongest, and most
cost-effective structure ever devised. The geodesic dome is able to cover more space
without internal supports than any other enclosure. It becomes proportionally lighter and
stronger the larger it is. The geodesic dome is a breakthrough in shelter, not only in
cost-effectiveness, but in ease of construction. In 1957, a geodesic dome auditorium in
Honolulu was put up so quickly that 22 hours after the parts were delivered, a full house
was comfortably seated inside enjoying a concert. Today over 300,000 domes dot the globe.
Plastic and fiberglass "radomes"
house delicate radar equipment along the Arctic perimeter, and weather stations withstand
winds up to 180 mph. Corrugated metal domes have given shelter to families in Africa, at a
cost of $350 per dome. The U.S. Marine Corps hailed the geodesic dome as "the first
basic improvement in mobile military shelter in 2,600 years." The world’s
largest aluminum clear-span structure is at Long Beach Harbor. |
| Fuller is most famous for his
20-story dome housing the U.S. Pavilion at Montreal’s Expo ’67. Later, he
documented the feasibility of a dome two miles in diameter that would enclose mid-town
Manhattan in a temperature-controlled environment, and pay for itself within ten years
from the savings of snow-removal costs alone. R.
Buckminster Fuller’s first world wide acceptance by the architectural community
occurred with the 1954 Triennale where his cardboard dome was displayed for the first
time. The Milan Triennale was established to stage international exhibitions aimed to
present the most innovative accomplishments in the fields of design, crafts, architecture
and city planning.
The theme for 1954 was Life Between Artifact and Nature: Design and the Environmental
Challenge which fit in perfectly with Bucky’s work. Bucky had begun efforts towards
the development of a Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science which he defined as,
"the effective application of the principles of science to the conscious design of
our total environment in order to help make the Earth’s finite resources meet the
needs of all humanity without disrupting the ecological processes of the planet." The
cardboard shelter that was part of his exhibit could be easily shipped and assembled with
the directions printed right on the cardboard. The 42-foot paperboard Geodesic was
installed in old Sforza garden in Milan and came away with the highest award, the Gran
Premio.
Fuller’s domes gained world wide attention upon his Italian premiere and by that
time the U.S. military had already begun to explore the options of using domes in their
military projects because they needed speedy but strong housing for soldiers overseas.
With the interest of the military and coming away from the 1954 Triennale with the Gran
Premio, domes began to gain in public appeal and exposure. |
TO
LEARN MORE
RELATED INFORMATION:
R. Buckminster Fuller
Biography
from The Great Idea Finder
ON THE BOOKSHELF:
Bucky
Works: Buckminster Fuller's Ideas for Today
by J. Baldwin / Paperback: 256 pages / John Wiley & Sons (1997)
He was an early proponent of geodesic domes--semispherical structures made up of
incredibly light and extremely strong triangular components--which he recommended for
economical and energy-efficient housing and other purposes
Engineering a New Architecture
by Tony Robbin / Hardcover: 138 pages / Yale Univ Pr (1996)
We are entering a period, says Tony Robbin, when engineering is the unrecognized
avant-garde in architectural design, a period in which new materials and structural
systems create new aesthetic principles.
Dome Living: A Creative Guide For Planning Your Monolithic Dream Home
by David B. South, Freda Grones / Paperback: 164 pages / Monolithic Dome Institute (
2000)
"Dome Living" explains the reasons behind the Monolithic Dome's advantages: its
superior strength and longevity; its ability to survive severe weather, earthquakes and
fire; its economical and conservative energy use; its cost efficiency for long term
maintenance and upkeep; its graceful, spherical beauty so appropriate to a dream home!
ON THE WEB:
About the
Fly’s Eye
In 1961 Fuller applied for U.S. Patent #3197927, to introduce his Monohex
structures which he called "Fly’s Eye" domes. In 1975 Bucky commissioned
John Warren to investigate the design and to prototype the Fly’s Eye domes in
fiberglass.
(URL: www.bfi.org/Trimtab/spring02/bfinews.htm)
ASM Headquarters Dome
With its great arching dome and its semi-circular office building, the ASM
International Headquarters conveys the imaginative force that marks ASM. One outstanding
feature of the building is the geodesic dome or "space lattice" designed by R.
Buckminster Fuller. A symbol of man’s mastery of his metal resources, the open-work
dome made of extruded aluminum stands 103 feet high and 250 feet in diameter, weighs 80
tons and contains more than 65,000 parts.
(URL: www.asminternational.org//content/AboutASM/MaterialsPark/MaterialsPark.htm)
Affordable Housing
Fuller wanted to use the techniques of mass production in creating
efficient affordable shelter for the millions of people who needed it around the world.
(URL: www.bfi.org/domes/index.htm)
Buckminster Fuller
Institute Photo Gallery
In November, 2001 with the help of over 25 volunteers, the BFI raised Buckminster
Fuller’s original prototype 26-foot Fly’s Eye dome. This dome and its sister
50-foot dome, along with all of the molds, were donated to BFI by Fuller’s family in
1995. This past November we tackled the project of moving them north and out of storage in
Santa Barbara.
(URL: www.bfi.org/gallery/FlysEyeDome)
P.A.T.H
The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing
(URL: www.pathnet.org)
HOW IT WORKS:
One of the ways Buckminster Fuller ("Bucky")
would describe the differences in strength between a rectangle and a triangle would be to
apply pressure to both structures. The rectangle would fold up and be unstable but the
triangle withstands the pressure and is much more rigid–in fact the triangle is twice
as strong. This principle directed his studies toward creating a new architectural design,
the geodesic dome, based also upon his idea of "doing more with less." Fuller
discovered that if a spherical structure was created from triangles, it would have
unparalleled strength.
The sphere uses the "doing more with less"
principle in that it encloses the largest volume of interior space with the least amount
of surface area thus saving on materials and cost. Fuller reintroduced the idea that when
the sphere’s diameter is doubled it will quadruple its square footage and produce
eight times the volume.
The spherical structure of a dome is one of the most efficient interior atmospheres for
human dwellings because air and energy are allowed to circulate without obstruction. This
enables heating and cooling to occur naturally. Geodesic shelters have been built all
around the world in different climates and temperatures and still they have proven to be
the most efficient human shelter one can find.
|
| Reference
Sources in BOLD Type |
This
page revised
October 9,
2006. |
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