Building Selection and Justification 2nd

I am chosing R. Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic dome. We have recently studied domes in our history and Theory class in Greek and Roman architecture with the Pantheon and then to the domes of the Monastic times with Justinian's Byzantines Hagia Sofia. This was considered the most perfect structure since the time of Solomon. Constantine's Basilica of St Peter at Rome which still stand today. The church of San Marco had five domes symbolizing the Greek cross. LaterIslamic temples were introduced to Persia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa. Eventually incompacing all of North Africa, Spain in the west and Pakistan and the Hindu Kush to the east. Their temple implimented designs and color such as the Masjid-l-Shah Mosque, in Ifahan, Iran.

Fuller's created a spherical dome for different reasons than the architects of ancient times. He was seeking a means for a better life for the common man on earth. He was one of the first to progagate a systemic worldview of energy and material efficiency in the fields of architecture, engineering and design. Fuller was concerned about sustainability and about human survival under the existing socio-economic system. He defined wealth in terms of knowledge, as the "technological ability to protect, nurture, support and accomodate all growth needs of life."

Fuller was most famous for his lattice shell structures _geodesic domes, which can he seen as part of the military radar stations, civic buildings, environmental protest camps and exhibition attractions. However the original design cam from a Dr. Walther Bauerfeld. Fuller is given full credit for this design in 1954. The geodesic dome is based on extending some basic principles to build simple tensegrity structures (tetrahdron, octahedron, and closely packing of spheres, making them light weight and stable.

Photo from Wikimedia. Montreal Biosphere 1967.