What’s New?

Builder’s blog

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 09:44:59 -0700

We have set up a password accessible blog for purchasers of Domebook. The blog pages on Builder’s Blog contain additional construction information, recent updates to the book (typos happen), and plans for additional domes not included in the book.

(The login ID and password are both lowercase.)
• The login ID for the Builder’s Blog is: domebuilder
• The login password is the first word on page 18 of Domebook (without the period).

Click here to log onto the Builder’s Blog.

How to construct a geodesic holiday ornament

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:47:49 -0700

An icosahedron is a 20 sided polyhedron where each side is an equilateral triangle. That sounds like a mouthful of gobbledegook, but the shape is easy to make. Using my technique you can make any size ornament you want - from minuscule to gigantic. My students have have constructed ornaments from colored construction paper, old photographs, gift wrap, and discarded holiday cards.

If you are a math teacher or home schooler this geodesic ornament can be a fun geometry lesson. So, find your compass and straight edge, scissors, glue or a stapler, and sharpen a pencil. Then download these directions and get started.

Geodesic modeling tools

Sun, 8 Mar 2009 14:52:28 -0700

Several companies manufacture and sell materials that let you easily build complex models of geodesic structures. Here are a few of our favorites:

Zome Geometry, by George Hart and and Henri Picciotto is full of great things to make with the sticks and hubs of the Zome System geometry construction kit. The Zome System kit contains hubs and interlocking plastic sticks that let you create dozens of 3D structures like the one in the picture at the top of this page. Go here to see other creations.

Jovo Click-and-Construct tiles fit together with a secure click and can be used to construct a myriad of polygons and geodesic domes. Click here to see some of the objects that were constructed using Jovo.

D-Stix contains color coded plastic sticks and rubber spoke-like connectors. Click here to learn how to construct a tetrahedronal kite using D-Stix.

Roger’s Connectors consists of steel ball bearings and a set of connector rods contain powerful magnets on each end. Up to 12 rods can fit on one ball bearing tha the construction possibilities are nearly endless. Unfortunately the rods are all one length, so only regular polygons can be constructed.

Polydron Frameworks Kit allows the user to construct a variety of Archimedean solids. The kits are available in several quantities and prices. You may want to purchase the companion book whenever you purchase the kit.

Build a BuckyBall with this Zometool kit. BuckyBall is a nickname for the C-60 carbon molecule, a recently discovered form of carbon, which is shaped like a geodesic dome. It was named in honor of R. Buckminster Fuller.

On the Internet

Fri, 6 Mar 2009 12:21:58 -0800

The Internet is a great source of information about R. Buckminster Fuller, Geometry, and Geodesic Domes. Here are a few interesting sites that you may want to visit.

R. Buckminster Fuller FAQ by Christopher Fearnley contains more information than you will probably ever want to know about the genius of R. Buckminster Fuller. The site also provides links to other dome-related web sites, ours included.

R. Buckminster Fuller may have patented the first Geodesic dome, but for a clue as to its actual inventor, check out this microbiology and molecular virology site: Principles of Virus Architecture by Linda Stannard.

The Buckminster Fuller Institute is probably the most comprehensive source of information about Geodesic Domes on the Internet. Where to buy model dome kits, sources for books about dome building, information about R .Buckminster Fuller, and other dome related sites are listed.

Walt Venable’s gateway leads to dozens of other geodesic dome sites.

George Hart’s “Virtual Reality Polyhedra” site contains hundreds of models of polyhedra which you may spin around in 3-D virtual reality. His companion sites, “The Pavilion of Polyhedreality” and “GeometricSculptures” contains unbelievably imaginative and beautiful artwork based on geodesic geometry. Click here to see Mr. Hart’s interpretation of the Da Vinci’s drawing seen page 85 of Domebook along with other Da Vinci drawings in “Da Divine Proportion.”

Gijs Korthals Altes provides paper models of more than 35 kinds of cut-and-paste polyhedra in a downloadable PDF format.

Modular Mania and Krystyna Burczyk’s Origami Gallery provide a geometric wrinkle on the Japanese art of paper folding.

The following sites are provided for their inspirational value. The commercial domes these companies create may serve as a catalyst to change or customize your own domes.

Solardome is a beautifully constructed web site that highlights aluminum and glass domes that the company has provided for customers around the world.

Pacific Domes has been supplying geodesic domes from its Ashland, Oregon factory for more than 27 years. Their gorgeous web site highlights some of their latest creations. I love the circular doorways on their domes.

The DomeGuys are pioneers in the world of dome production, design, and engineering, providing domes worldwide. Their web site is a ‘well rounded’ and their photos and videos are inspirational.

Visit Natural Spaces Domes to see what is like to construct and live in a geodesic dome home. The images on the site are illuminating and the site’s authors provide an awesome amount of information about dome building.

DomeCompany, Australia specializes in the design and construction of metal strut geodesic domes that are used for events and shelter in the ‘land down under’. Their 15 meter dome is awesome!

GoodKarmaDomes brings their 34 years of domebuilding experience to the Internet. Take a look at their pictures page for some interesting dome ideas.

Monolithic is a family of companies that produce concrete dome shells that house homes, schools, churches, sports facilities and more. Their Eye of the Storm home and the Sigler’s dome home are beauties.

Geodesics Unlimited is a British company whose aim is the same as ours - to “proliferate the use of Geodesic Domes over the earth, and beyond...” Their site provides a wealth of information about geodesics. Be sure to take a look at their Gallery of Domes.

The folks at Bio/HOME have developed a dome system that is practical to build and energy self-sufficient. Take a look at the dome they constructed that is “close to the end of the earth”.

Growing Spaces designs and distributes geodesic greenhouses. Their site is quite well done and their images are enticing. Visit their Kids Page to see how their greenhouses are used in school settings.

When you need a break from dome construction, take a look at other things you can do with cardboard - like building a kayak! “The Cardboard Boat Book” will show you how. While you are at Dave’s site, click on his “Reviews” page and scroll to the bottom to see other unusual uses for cardboard.

DomeSpirit Domes is a dome home manufacturer in British Columbia, Canada. Take a look at their 38' four frequency 1/2 dome for ideas about window and door placement.

Why metrics?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:40:32 -0800

The Metric system of measurement is used exclusively in Domebook. Metric linear measurement is a decimal system based on the circumference of the earth. Its fundamental unit is the meter, which is composed of 100 centimeters or 1000 millimeters. There is no correlation between it and the conventional U.S. system of linear measurement, which is based on things like the length of two barleycorns and the distance a Roman legionnaire could walk in one thousand paces.

Laying out the pattern for a master triangle requires multiplying the proposed radius of the dome by decimal numbers. Suppose a dome will have a radius of 1.25 meters. If the formula for the length of one side of the master triangle is radius x .618, that means 1.25 meters X .618 = .7725 meters (which is equivalent to 77.25 centimeters). Since the meter stick is divided into decimal increments and is 100 centimeters long, it is easy to find 77.25 centimeters on a meter stick.

Now try to do something similar using a yard stick. Pretend the dome has a radius of 3 feet. Using the same formula, the result is 3 feet x .618 = 1.854 feet. Try to find that on a yard stick!

That’s, “Why metrics?”

The vocabulary of domes

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:39:47 -0800

Today, let’s discuss reflexive geometry and the synergistic isotropic vector matrix of icosahedral polyhedra. Ok, let’s not. The concept of geodesic domes has been around for a long time. In fact, it is pretty much agreed that the first modern geodesic dome was constructed in 1922 to house the Zeiss planetarium at the science institute in Jena, Germany. But it wasn’t until R. Buckminster Fuller patented the mathematics of domes in the 1940 that ‘domenclature’ became part of our vocabulary. Let’s face it, you are here because you think domes are cool. If you want to be a real domie you have to talk like a domie. Here are a few key words that should be a part of your vocabulary:

R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983): Mathematician and inventor who, in 1940, patented the mathematics used to construct modern geodesic domes. C-60, a recently discovered third form of carbon (the others two are graphite and diamond) is shaped like a geodesic sphere and was named Buckminster Fullerene in honor of Fuller.

Frequency: The number of equal divisions along one side of a triangle determines the frequency of a dome. Click here to see examples. Generally, the greater the frequency of a dome the more it resembles a smooth-sided sphere.

Geodesic line: The shortest line that can connect two points on a sphere, Sometimes called a great circle.

Geodesic Dome: A structure composed of triangles whose walls and roof constitute a partial sphere. A geodesic structure encloses the largest volume within the least surface area.

Platonic Solid: Polyhedra composed entirely of either equilateral triangles, squares, or equilateral pentagons. There are only five Platonic solids:

• The tetrahedron is formed from four equilateral triangles.
• The cube (also called a hexahedron) is composed of six squares.
• The octahedron is formed from eight equilateral triangles.
• The dodecahedron is composed of twelve equilateral pentagons.
• The icosahedron (icosa is the Greek word for twenty) is composed of twenty equilateral triangles.

Mathematicians named these unique shapes in honor of the Greek philosopher, Plato, who associated them with what he believed were the five elements: fire (tetrahedron), earth (cube), air (octahedron),the universe (dodecahedron), and water (icosahedron).

Polygon: A two-dimensional figure made up entirely of straight lines. A triangle is a polygon,

Polyhedron: A three-dimensional object whose faces are made up entirely of polygons. A cube is a polyhedron with six square faces. Click here to visit a site where you can use your computer mouse to rotate virtual polyhedra.

Rhombicosidodecahedron: Just kidding. You don’t need to know this one. All right, if you insist. It is a polyhedron with twelve pentagonal faces, 20 triangular faces, and 30 square faces. Click here for an example.

Truncation: Cutting a portion of a sphere away at a line of latitude to make a dome. The 3 frequency icosahedral dome in Domebook is a 5/8 truncation of a sphere.

In the beginning...

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:16:56 -0800

Peg, Jay, Claudia, Karin and I were proponents of project-based learning and believed in the theory that students learn best when they are involved in real-life activities. We had been looking for projects our students could work on that involved metric measurement. I had read an article in Sunset Magazine about how to construct a geodesic dome from cardboard that involved measuring in metrics and convinced my teaching colleagues we should give it a try. The project was a success, however the finished dome was too squat to enter except on hands and knees, was difficult to construct from the two-ply refrigerator carton cardboard we had scrounged, and took twice as long to build as we planned. We had gotten bitten by the dome building bug and it set us on a quest to find an easier way to build the same kind of dome. Domebook is the result of that quest. With the permission of the publisher of Domebook One and Domebook 2, we borrowed the concept of building a dome using four or five identical peel panels (like putting a peel back onto an orange) which simplifies the process

Over the years we have built 16 domes with our students and trained other teachers to do the same. This site displays some of their successes. If you would like to showcase your dome on this site, take lots of photos of your dome project and send us the best. In this age of digital imagery, it is easiest if you email your photos to Domebook@aol.com along with a description of your project and any special tips or hints you want to pass along to other dome builders. Also include your name or your group’s name, your geographical location and a statement giving us permission to publish your photos.