Re-Examining Geodesic Domes

The first thing I thought when I saw that: I would not want to live in that.

This post is an antidote to the futurism that Brainsturbator sometimes gets carried away with.  The experience—and ammunition—for this is provided by Lloyd Kahn, who is another Honorary Saint here at the BIPT.  He is the author of Domebook and Domebook 2, and has erected dozens of geodesic dome structures in his life --- he knows what he’s talking about.

Kahn is also the author of one of the greatest books in the BIPT library --- ”Shelter”.  All of his critiques of geodesic dome architecture are grounded in decades of hands-on experience, and it’s also very interesting stuff for anyone concerned with human living and the future of our planet.

(as a side note—he also makes “StretchWare”, software that reminds you to get up and stretch as often as you program it to.  neat stuff, but I wouldn’t pay money for it.  I myself us a freeware timer to remind me to get the hell off myspace after 5 minutes.)

Metaphorically, our work on domes now appears to us to have been smart: mathematics, computers, new materials, plastics. Yet reevaluation of our actual building experiments, publications, and feedback from others leads us to emphasize that there continue to be many unsolved problems with dome homes. Difficulties in making the curved shapes livable, short lives of modern materials, and as-yet-unsolved detail and weatherproofing problems.

We now realize that there will be no wondrous new solution to housing, that our work, though perhaps smart, was by no means wise. In the past year, we have discovered that there is far more to learn from wisdom of the past: from structures shaped by imagination, not mathematics, and built of materials appearing naturally on the earth, than from any further extension of whiteman technoplastic prowess.

----from this essay here

His collection of essays is worth digging deeper into if this material interests you. 

Primary Problems with Geodesic Domes in the Real World

1. A rectangular structure is built of walls, which are vertical, and a roof. The roof acts as an umbrella, keeping most (not wind-blown) moisture off the walls, windows and doors. A dome is all roof; water, including mists or fog, pours over the entire surface. Unless the dome is covered with shingles, the slightest pinhole causes leakage.

2.  Rectangular buildings are shaped by available materials—wood, stone, adobe, etc.—and the laws of gravity. Domes are shaped by polyhedral geometry and materials must be forced to carry out the abstract concept.

3. The dome framework, due to its tightness, is continually under stress. As temperatures change it expands and contracts. It is always working, always straining at the seams.

4. Domes must be built of higher grade materials. The kiln-dried lumber required for framing is over twice as expensive as construction grade lumber used in stud framing. See cost comparison below.

5. Almost all building materials come in rectangular shapes. They must be altered to fit polyhedral shapes, either with resultant waste or more complicated cuts.Also, once materials are cut for dome assembly they are-difficult to recycle in another building.

6. A far greater variety of materials can be used in conventional construction: rock, adobe, used wood, doors and windows, construction grade lumber, etc.

7. An important feature of an owner-built home is the possibility for later expansion. With a perpendicular wall, you merely add on more roof and walls, all at 90°. With a dome, however, you weaken the structure by cutting into it and must cut compound angles and tie into multiple facets when adding on.

8. Similarly, constructing interior partitions in a dome is far more time-consuming, due to the compound angles.

9. The dome’s well-publicized “more space for less materials” actually means more cubic area (overhead) that is hard to utilize and must be heated.

10. We are vertical to the earth. So are refrigerators, beds, bureaus, tables, kitchen counters, etc. These things fit best in a rectangular space, less efficiently in circular space.

11. Each triangular facet of a dome faces center; this magnifies noise. Also, smells circulate throughout the entire dome.

---Lloyd Kahn

...and about that book, Shelter

click image to enlarge