Did Bob the Stuffmaker invent an easy way to build geodesic domes?

[freebeard]

Tell the commenter who wondered publicly!

[The AI Overlords] forbid I should start wondering myself. It's an existential threat. Or stochastic or something.

Ground anchors are to hold a dome down, else they fly like a bouncy castle.

[Xist]

I like to make excuses, too!

[freebeard]

So.... Do you like or subscribe to Stumpy Nubs?

This one starts out all pedantic, but toward the end you get to see his shop.

This rule changed how I measure things

[ME_Andy]

This one's for freebeard. Skip to 10:15. "Domes don't work". Shrug. I suspect he's right.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z6kPzMSvdDA

[freebeard]

I suspect he's right.

I checked, he's still alive 9 years later. I've still got Whole Earth catalogs and Domebooks 1 & 2 and Shelter.

Do you know what his reasoning is?

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.https://www.shelterpub.com/domes/

Later he describes a post and beam barn:

We walked into the large building in the darkness, and then he switched on the lights. It was about the most dramatic way to see a beautiful old building, the sudden blaze of lights revealed a 100 year old mortise and tenon structure. There were about four loft-levels, and at the top was a hexagonal cupola. ... I climbed up all the ladders, up all the stairs, looking at the joinery (wooden pegs.) Then up into the little cupola room which was above the roof line, smoked a joint, sat and looked out over miles of countryside in moonlight. To the north, the water. Sitting there, 50 feet high, supported by hundred year old wooden structure, the futuristic plastic building notions seemed strange indeed.[ibid]

He obviously has a dislike for plastics. He would likely get the same feeling from a four-story mortise and tenoned dome with cupola. Bottom line (from my reading) 'Difficulties in making the curved shapes livable and weatherproofing problems.'

-curved shapes livable
Domes don't make good tiny homes. They make excellent shopping malls. Here's my attempt to go small.

I'm in the process of building this one right now, as a wooden dowel zip-tie dome.

-weatherproofing problems
I don't know why he couldn't get a shingled roof to work. The only place it should be a problem is near the zenith where the pitch is low. Onion domes (like at the Kremlin) avoid this.

[redpoint5]

Where are all the domes? If they are superior, we should be seeing them everywhere.

The answer could very well be similar to my question of why so many suboptimal building decisions are made in modern houses, such as lousy exhaust fans, minimum rated outlets (and those jerks who use backstab outlets), minimum insulation, minimum efficiency heaters, and materials that will wear or rot out in 10-20 years.

I suspect consumers have come to value price/sqft over all else.

[freebeard]

Where are all the domes? If they are superior, we should be seeing them everywhere.

Mortgages. Cultural inertia. When I worked for a roofing truss company, they said the same floor plan fetches more money if it has a more complex roofline.

I like to think that eventually we will see them everywhere more often. Value price/sqft comes from enclosing the most space with the least material, plus minimizing heat loss/gain costing energy.

Then you have your Cartesian Coordinates vs Synergetics. The Cube vs the Cuboctahedron. Free your mind and your house will follow.

[Piotrsko]

Problem is: it is a non standard building. Traditionally difficult to sell, even more so on a resale. Would the typical buyer appreciate the economies? No, they want something than looks like the box they are accustomed to.

[freebeard]

AKA cultural inertia. Or is it momentum?

"Free your mind and your house will follow." I though this was funny. 60's humor.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Value price/sqft comes from enclosing the most space with the least material, plus minimizing heat loss/gain costing energy.

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Problem is: it is a non standard building. Traditionally difficult to sell, even more so on a resale. Would the typical buyer appreciate the economies? No, they want something than looks like the box they are accustomed to.

The value doesn't come in the volume enclosed, but in floor space, and the ability to use it efficiently.

My couch is up against the wall. My TV is hanging on a wall. My window blinds are rectangular to sit flush with the rectangular windows. All of my appliances and furniture are built with straight lines and right angles. Property lines adhere to straight lines and right angles to the extent possible.

If I had a dome house, I'd probably end up doing what chip makers do with silicon wafers and square the interior off.

Image from the previous company I worked for


I would expect a lower cost per volume of enclosed air, but question the cost per square foot.

Truss companies should love domes since they are all truss, no muss.

What I'd really want is a dome with transparent glass panels, and a reflective LCD component that can selectively turn each panel opaque/reflective. If the opacity could be controlled, the house could be turned into a 1-way mirror to provide privacy and a view.