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DOMES
A Fuller Understanding of Applied Geometry
LAURA GARZON ʻ02
Smaller and more hemispherical designs do not require heating and cooling, making them “30-40% more energy
these trusses, nor do they demand the high frequency efficient than traditional houses” (Knauer 1992: 31).
subdivision evident in structures like the Ford rotunda. Wind slides more smoothly over the curved exterior of
Domes of 15m or less, like those that serve as homes or domes than over conventional buildings, creating fewer
greenhouses, usually derive from 3-frequency polyhedra disturbances to the outer layer of air that insulates against
(Baldwin 77). Throughout the 1960’s, eager amateurs heat loss from inside. With tactful ventilation, their
with utopian visions attempted to construct their own concave interiors can also facilitate rolling currents that
geodesic domes using whatever materials they had and pull cool air from a hole in the apex and release warm air
the mathematics they could muster. Seeing a potential through openings along the side (Figure 6).
for profit, commercial builders began offering more
professional, precise designs. Domes became popular
during the energy crisis of the 1970s and the “staggering
cost of energy” in the early 1990s created renewed interest
(Knauer 1992: 29). In 1996, 200,000 geodesic domes
worldwide enclosed “far more space than the work of any
other architect” (Baldwin 119). Sources on the Internet
today list almost forty dome manufacturers in the United
States, and many more around the world (Rader 2001).
With their spherical design, geodesic domes in fact
prove highly resource-efficient. A sphere contains the
greatest amount of volume with the least amount of
surface of any figure, and domes, as truncated reflections
of spherical polyhedra, inherit the benefits of this ratio.
For instance, a cube-shaped house 20m wide will contain Figure 6: Passive Cooling with Rolling Currents (Baldwin 115).
8,000m3 within four walls and a flat roof, totaling 2,000
m2 of surface area. Using the same 2,000 m2 of surface, The “Fuller” explanation of a dome’s efficiency involves
a hemisphere contains approximately 1.5 times the the concept of tensional integrity, or tensegrity in
volume. As with other three-dimensional figures, larger synergetic terminology. Tension and compression
domes have smaller surface-to-volume ratios. The surface function simultaneously in any system, but one usually
area of a sphere equals 4πr2 and its volume equals 4/3πr3, dominates over the other. Ever since ancient architects
so surface increases by powers of 2 while its volume began piling up stones, constructions have depended
increases by powers of 3. Bigger domes also conserve mostly on compression. Historically, domes have also
more energy as well, since a smaller percentage of the relied on bulk to sustain their load. The world’s largest
air they contain touches the surface where most heat domes before the mid-20th century, Rome’s St. Peters
escapes or enters. Meanwhile, the aerodynamics of domes and the Pantheon, each span about 50 meters and weigh
promotes passive 15,000 tons; Fuller’s first geodesic dome of the same
diameter weighed one-thousand times less (Pawley 115).
Geodesic domes exploit tensional behavior rather than
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exclusively local compressional behavior (Fuller 1975: influence construction. Domes enclose contemporary
372). A “system of equilibrated omni directional stresses” industrial facilities and concert halls. City planners use
results, and local pressure transmits uniformly throughout geodesic domes as low-cost shelters for the homeless,
the structure (Kenner 5). Since each part of the structure and enterprising builders choose hemispheres for lower
need not receive loads unassisted, valuable economies in energy bills (“Domes” 1994: 95). Radomes still exist
material are possible. Also, while compression pushes to in remote stations, having weathered severe climates
eventually bend stressed parts, tension pulls to reinforce and the harsh test of time. Nonetheless, domes have
their shape. Assuming increasingly strong materials, not become conspicuously widespread. Mass-produced
there is no “geometrical limit to the length of a tension housing follows standard rectilinear blueprints and
component” (Edmondson 246). In fact, Fuller provided custom architecture comes at high costs. Also, domes
the calculations for a dome large enough to cover fifty require tactful truncation to fit flatly on the ground.
blocks of Manhattan that could protect the downtown Their internal layouts must accommodate straight-
area from rain and snow while controlling sunlight and sided furnishings, and their curved form complicates
air quality. expansion possibilities. The placement of windows and
Embracing the natural order of structure, synergetics doors can prove problematic as well. These practical
forms the “discipline behind Fuller’s fantastic visions difficulties do not undermine the logic behind the
of a sustainable future” (Edmondson 1). More than Fuller’s dome, however. Geodesic domes derive from
half a century later, synergetic principles continue to spherical polyhedra that can function as efficiently in
Edmondson, Amy. A Fuller Explanation: The Synergetic Marks, Robert. The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller.
Geometry of R. Buckminster Fuller. Boston: Birkhäuser, 1987. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1960.
Fuller, Buckminster. Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry Pawley, Martin. Buckminster Fuller. New York: Taplinger
of Thinking. New York, MacMillan, 1975. Publishing, 1990.
-----. Synergetics 2: Explorations in the Geometry of Pugh, Anthony. Polyhedra: A Visual Approach. Berkeley:
Thinking. New York, MacMillan, 1979. University of California Press, 1976.
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