Photo Credit: Cheryl Foshay

The first geodesic dome, the US Pavilion's 76-meter-diameter structure, was built by R. Buckminster Fuller in the Expo 67 Photo Credit: Michael Rougier/LIFE. Time Inc.

The history of Geodesic domes
Geodesic domes were first proposed by Buckminster Fuller in 1940s as a new architectural design upon his idea of "doing more with less". Fuller discovered that if a spherical structure was created from a network of triangles, it would have unparalleled strength.

The dome structures adopt the "doing more with less" principle in that they enclose the largest volume of interior space but with least amount of surface area, therefore materials and cost can be saved. The spherical structure is one of the most efficient interior atmospheres for human dwellings because air and energy are allowed to circulate without obstruction. One example is: the net annual energy savings for a dome is 30% less than normal rectilinear homes according to one manufacturer. These geodesic domes have also been designed to withstand high winds and extreme temperatures in Polar regions.

The Making of Geodesic Domes
Geodesic domes are actually derived from platonic solids. There exist only five platonic solids: tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron. The greater the number of faces in the platonic solid from which the dome is derived, the better approximation the platonic solid is to a sphere. The icosahedron has the greatest number of faces (20), so it is the most common choice for making a geodesic dome.

The platonic solids: tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron Illustration Credit: Kevin Sahr, Denis White

In order to improve the roundness of the icosahedron, its surfaces are divided into smaller ones and more points are raised to the surface of the sphere. There are 2 methods in dividing the surfaces: Alternate Division (class I) and Triacon Division (class II). Alternate Division is to divide the equilateral triangle into n2 smaller equilateral triangles by breaking each edges into n pieces and connecting the breaking points with lines parallel to the triangle edges.

Three levels of Alternate (Class I) division Illustration Credit: Paul Chilvers, Magdalen Bear/Tarquin Publications

Triacon Division is to divide each triangle edge into n=2m pieces (where m is some positive integer). Lines are then drawn perpendicular to the triangle edges to form the new triangle grid. This method of division produces domes with a higher degree of symmetry than the alternate method. More great circles and fewer lengths of struts are generated.

More about Geodesic Domes
To learn more of the history of geodesic domes, you may wish to browse the following website www.bfi.org/ . There is also a stunning world map unfolded to render a flat Earth using some intrigue transformation.

For serious visitors who might wish to calculate the best dome dimensions, here is an interesting website for advice on relevant calculations: www.desertdomes.com/domecalc.html .

More information about the dome dimensions and energy savings as well as their orientations is available in this website www.dnaco.net/~michael/domes/ .