How to Build a Geodesic Dome Model

The first modern geodesic dome was designed by Dr. Walter Bauersfeld in 1922. Buckminster Fuller obtained his first patent for a geodesic dome in 1954. (Patent number 2,682,235)

Geodesic domes are an efficient way to make buildings. They are inexpensive, strong, easy to assemble, and easy to tear down. After domes are built, they can even be picked up and moved somewhere else. Domes make good temporary emergency shelters as well as long-term buildings. Perhaps some day they will be used in outer space, on other planets, or under the ocean.

If geodesic domes were made like automobiles and airplanes are made, on assembly lines in large numbers, almost everyone in the world today could afford to have a home.

Here are the instructions to complete a low-cost, easy-to-assemble model of one type of geodesic dome. Make all of the triangle panels as described with heavy paper or transparencies, then connect the panels with paper fasteners or glue.

Before we begin, it's helpful to understand some concepts behind the construction of the dome.

^{Source: "How to Build a Geodesic Dome Model" is presented by guest writer Trevor Blake, author and archivist for the largest private collection of works by and about R. Buckminster Fuller. For more information, see synchronofile.com.}

Geodesic domes are usually hemispheres (parts of spheres, like half a ball) made up of triangles. The triangles have 3 parts:

• the face - the part in the middle
• the edge - the line between corners
• the vertex - where the edges meet

All triangles have two faces (one viewed from inside the dome and one viewed from outside the dome), three edges, and three vertex.

There can be many different lengths in edges and angles of vertex in a triangle. All flat triangles have vertex that add up to 180 degrees. Triangles drawn on spheres or other shapes do not have vertex that add up to 180 degrees, but all the triangles in this model are flat.

One kind of triangle is an equilateral triangle, which has three edges of identical length and three vertex of identical angle. There are no equilateral triangles in a geodesic dome, although the differences in the edges and vertex are not always immediately visible.

• Classification of Triangles and Angles
• The Meaning of Angle or Definition of an Angle
• Great Domes Around the World

The first step in making your geometric dome model is to cut triangles from heavy paper or transparencies. You'll need two different types of triangles. Each triangle will have one or more edges measured as follows:

Edge A = .3486
Edge B = .4035
Edge C = .4124

The edge lengths listed above can be measured in any way you like (including inches or centimeters). What is important is to preserve their relationship. For example, if you make edge A 34.86 centimeters long, make edge B 40.35 centimeters long and edge C 41.24 centimeters long.

Make 75 triangles with two C edges and one B edge. These will be called CCB panels, because they have two C edges and one B edge.

Make 30 triangles with two A edges and one B edge.

Include a foldable flap on each edge so you can join your triangles with paper fasteners or glue. These will be called AAB panels, because they have two A edges and one B edge.

You now have 75 CCB panels and 30 AAB panels.

To learn more about the geometry of your triangles, read below.
To continue with your model, proceed to Step 2 >

This dome has a radius of one: that is, to make a dome where the distance from the center to the outside is equal to one (one meter, one mile, etc.) you will use panels that are divisions of one by these amounts. So if you know you want a dome with a diameter of one, you know you need an A strut that is one divided by .3486.

You can also make the triangles by their angles. Do you need to measure an AA angle that is exactly 60.708416 degrees? Not for this model: measuring to two decimal places should be enough. The full angle is provided here to show that the three vertex of the AAB panels and the three vertex of the CCB panels each add up to 180 degrees.

_{AA = 60.708416
AB = 58.583164
CC = 60.708416
CB = 58.583164}

Connect the C edges of six CCB panels to form a hexagon (six-sided shape). The outer edge of the hexagon should be all B edges.

Make ten hexagons of six CCB panels. If you look closely, you might be able to see that the hexagons are not flat. They form a very shallow dome.

Are there some CCB panels left over? Good! You need those too.

Make five half-hexagons from three CCB panels.

Connect the A edges of five AAB panels to form a pentagon (five-sided shape). The outer edge of the pentagon should be all B edges.

Make six pentagons of five AAB panels. The pentagons also form a very shallow dome.

This geodesic dome is built from the top outward. One of the pentagons made of AAB panels is going to be the top.

Take one of the pentagons and connect five hexagons to it. The B edges of the pentagon are the same length as the B edges of the hexagons, so that is where they connect.

You should now see that the very shallow domes of the hexagons and the pentagon form a less shallow dome when put together. Your model is starting to look like a 'real' dome already.

Note: Remember that a dome is not a ball. Learn more at Great Domes Around the World.

Take five pentagons and connect them to the outer edges of the hexagons. Just like before, the B edges are the ones to connect.

Take six hexagons and connect them to the outer B edges of the pentagons and the hexagons.

Finally, take the five half-hexagons you made in Step 2, and connect them to the outer edges of the hexagons.

Congratulations! You've built a geodesic dome! This dome is 5/8ths of a sphere (a ball), and is a three-frequency dome. The frequency of a dome is measured by how many edges there are from the center of one pentagon to the center of another pentagon. Increasing the frequency of a geodesic dome increases how spherical (ball-like) the dome is.

Now you can decorate your dome:

• How would it look if it were a house?
• How would it look if it were a factory?
• How would it look under the ocean or on the moon?
• Where would the doors go?
• Where would the windows go?

If you would like to make this dome with struts instead of panels, use the same length ratios to make 30 A struts, 55 B struts, and 80 C struts.

• Buckminster Fuller Bibliography by Trevor Blake, revised 2016
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• The Lost Inventions of Buckminster Fuller and Other Essays by Trevor Blake
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