GEODESIC STRUCTURE

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Name of the building/structure: Aviodome

Location: Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, Netherlands

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: The main building was an aluminum geodesic dome designed
by American Buckminster Fuller . At the time, it was the first geodesic dome in Europe and the
largest geodesic dome in the world. Most of the aircraft in the collection were on display here.
The geodesic dome is regarded as the strongest possible spatial construction form. The bigger
you make the sphere, the stronger it becomes. The great strength of the dome is that it is
lightweight and self-supporting at the same time. So, no pillars on supports are needed in the
dome. Buckminster Fuller's big break came at the 1967 Montreal World Expo , where he
presented his concept. After that, tens of thousands of such domes were built all over the world.

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Name of the building/structure: The Aviary at Queen’s Zoo

Location: Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: The zoo's aviary is a geodesic dome designed by Thomas C. Howard of
Synergetics, Inc. and used during the 1964 Fair. The dome was originally designed as the fair's
major indoor assembly hall, with no indoor supports blocking anyone's view, and repurposed for
the 1965 season as a tribute to Winston Churchill after he died in 1965. The 175-foot (53 m)
diameter dome was one of the largest single-layer structures of its time. It was dismantled and
stored after the fair and was later reassembled in its current location with a mesh netting covering
instead of the solid tent of the original dome.

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Name of the building/structure: EcoCamp Patagonia hotel

Location: Chile

Type of Building System: Geodesic Dome

Short Description: Eco camp Patagonia hotel is a sustainable retreat made up of upscale
geodesic domes. According to Designing Buildings Wiki, the geodesic dome was developed by
the American engineer and architect Richard Buckminster Fuller in the late 1940s. Geodesic
domes are sphere-like structures consisting of a network of triangles which provide a self-
balancing structural framework whilst using minimal materials. The word geodesic is Latin and
means ‘earth dividing’.

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Name of the building/structure: Eden Project

Location: Cornwall, England, UK

Type of Building System: Geodesic domes

Short Description: The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining
domes that house thousands of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a natural biome.
The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal ethylene tetrafluoroethylene
(ETFE) inflated cells supported by geodesic tubular steel domes. The larger of the two biomes
simulates a rainforest environment (and is the largest indoor rainforest in the world) and the
second, a Mediterranean environment. The attraction also has an outside botanical
garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general; it
also has many plants that provide an important and interesting backstory, for example, those
with a prehistoric heritage.

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Name of the building/structure: Montreal Biosphere
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: The architectural engineer of the geodesic dome was Buckminster
Fuller.[4] The building originally formed an enclosed structure of steel and acrylic cells, 76 metres
(249 ft) in diameter and 62 metres (203 ft) high. It is a Class 1 (icosahedral, as differentiated
from Class 2 domes, which are dodecahedral, and Class 3 ones, which are tetrahedral), 32-
frequency, double-layer dome, in which the inner and outer layers are connected by a latticework
of struts. (There has occasionally been confusion in mistakenly referring to this as a 16-
frequency dome due to the fact that there are 15 hexagonal polygons from each pentagonally
polygonal vertex of this icosahedral polyhedron to the adjacent vertex. However, the standard
for measuring dome frequency is the number of triangles from vertex to vertex. Since there are
two triangles from one side to the opposite side of a hexagon, there are actually 30 triangles
from the edge of each pentagonal vertex in this dome to the next, plus the triangle that comprises
one-fifth of the pentagonal vertex at each end of the length from one vertex to the adjacent
vertex: totaling 32 triangles from the center of each vertex to the center of the next vertex.

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Name of the building/structure: Spaceship Earth

Location: Orlando, FL, USA

Type of Building System: Full sphere geodesic dome

Short Description: Built in 1982, Spaceship Earth at Disney World encloses some 2,200,000
cubic feet of space inside a globe that is 165 feet in diameter. The outer surface is composed of
954 triangular panels made of a polyethylene core sandwiched between two anodized aluminum
plates. These panels are not all the same size and shape.

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Name of the building/structure: La Géode

Location: Paris, France

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: The geodesic dome is 36 metres (118 ft) in diameter, composed of 6,433
polished stainless steel equilateral triangles that form the sphere that reflects the sky.[1] These
triangles are 1.5 meters long and are fixed on a thin metal frame with the same triangular
geodesic structure, consisting of 2,580 steel tube bars.[2] The dome stands on a reinforced
concrete base, which is attached to Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, the largest science
museum in Europe. La Géode officially opened on May 6, 1985. After a similar venue located in
La Défense closed in 2001, La Géode became the only spherical building in the Île-de-France
region of France.

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Name of the building/structure: The Glass Dome in Dali Museum

Location: Figueres, Spain

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: The complex includes Torre Galatea, a stone tower, and a glass geodesic
dome which crowns the main building and has come to be seen as a symbol of the town of
Figueres. Dali himself is buried underneath the stage illuminated by the transparent geodesic
cupola.

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Name of the building/structure: Bloedel Conservatory

Location: Vancouver, Canada

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: Made of 1-mm thick extruded aluminium and aluminium panels that weigh
about 6,800 kg, this multi-million-dollar geodesic dome was originally built for the 1986 World’s
Fair. This popular venue offers families a wide range of both permanent and changing interactive
and educational science exhibits along with a variety of fascinating shows in the OMNIMAX
theatre. It has quickly become a major city landmark and was voted the most iconic building in
Vancouver in a Twitter poll.

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Name of the building/structure: The Dome at The Queen Mary

Location: Long Beach, CA, USA

Type of Building System: Geodesic dome

Short Description: Set near The Queen Mary, this massive white dome made of aluminium was
built to house the Hughes H-4 Hercules aircraft or “Spruce Goose” as it was called by news
media. The dome, at 115 feet high and 400 feet wide, is definitely an eyecatcher. It is the world’s
largest, free-span aluminum geodesic structure. The Spruce Goose is no longer located within
the dome, so the dome is being used as a giant soundstage for several Hollywood movies, or
as a roller derby rink and most recently as a boarding terminal for the Carnival Cruise line.

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Acquired Knowledge:
To have a wonderful creation of a building/structure, I've managed to learn that it's
essential to study numerous materials and building structures. If I had a better understanding of
materials that are appropriate for a specific purpose in a building/structure, I'll have more space
to convey myself and create aesthetic. Those buildings that I researched are so wonderful and
I’ve realized that each building has its own set of characteristics that contribute to its success.
Not only the exterior's beauty, but also the pleasure and feature of the materials used. We can
create a new form of art with the help of various types of building systems. In addition, with the
help of these researched we can discover more buildings and inspired with their concept.

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References:
• Ahornblatt Restaurant: https://structurae.net/en/structures/ahornblatt-restaurant
• Großgaststätte Ahornblatt:
https://everything.wiki/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fgastst%C3%A4tte_Ahornblatt
• Algeciras Market Hall: https://structurae.net/en/structures/algeciras-market-hall
• repair and rehabilitation of algeciras market hall (description) (algeciras, cadiz, spain) :
http://www.torrojaingenieria.es/trabajos/edificios/9510-
mercado%20algeciras%20descripcion/english%20paper/ep-9510-
mercado%20algeciras%20descripcion.pdf
• alsterschwimmhalle: https://structurae.net/en/structures/alsterschwimmhalle
• Alster-Schwimmhalle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alster-Schwimmhalle
• Arena da Amazônia (2014): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_da_Amaz%C3%B4nia
• Auditorium of Tenerife: https://structurae.net/en/structures/auditorium-of-tenerife
• Auditorium, Santa Cruz de Tenerife: https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/auditorio-de-
tenerife-9
• Aula of the Cedars: https://www.lausanne.ch/portrait/carte-identite/architecture-et-
monuments/patrimoine-architectural/les-trente-glorieuses/aula-des-cedres.html
• Aviodome: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviodome
• Baháʼí House of Worship:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_House_of_Worship
• Marks Barfield Architects designs Cambridge Central Mosque to be "place of
tranquility":
• https://www.dezeen.com/2021/01/20/cambridge-central-mosque-marks-barfield-
architects/
• Queens Zoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_Zoo
• Eden Project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Project
• Montreal Biosphere https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Biosphere
• 10 Must-see Geodesic Domes around the world: https://ekodome.com/10-must-see-
geodesic-domes-around-the-world/
• Goodyear Airdock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyear_Airdock
• Parking Hangar: https://www.reidsteel.com/structural-steel-projects/parking-hangar-
biggin-hill-8403/?portfolioCats=131
• Cliff Lift Bridge – Shanklin I.O.W: https://www.reidsteel.com/structural-steel-
projects/cliff-lift-bridge-shanklin-i-o-w-8445/?portfolioCats=131
• Northwest Wild Foods: https://www.cfisherconstruction.com/project/northwest-wild-
foods/
• Hexcel Phase 2 Expansion: https://www.cfisherconstruction.com/project/hexcel-phase-2-
expansion/
• Team Corporation: https://www.cfisherconstruction.com/project/team-corporation/ss

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