Geodesic dome

Spherical shell structure based on a geodesic polyhedron The Montreal Biosphere, formerly the American Pavilion of Expo 67, by R. Buckminster Fuller, on Saint Helen's Island, Montreal, Quebec A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The rigid triangular elements of the dome distribute stress throughout the structure, making geodesic domes able to withstand very heavy loads for their size. History Spaceship Earth at Epcot The Climatron greenhouse at Missouri Botanical Garden, built in 1960 and designed by Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc., inspired the domes in the science fiction movie Silent Running. Science World in Vancouver, built for Expo 86, and inspired by Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic dome. RISE, public art designed by Wolfgang Buttress, located in Belfast, consists of two spheres which utilise Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic dome. The first geodesic dome was designed after World War I by Walther Bauersfeld, chief engineer of Carl Zeiss Jena, an optical company, for a planetarium to house his planetarium projector. An initial, small dome was patented and constructed by the firm of Dykerhoff and Wydmann on the