In 1960 American architect/designer/futurist Buckminster Fuller envisioned building a dome over Manhattan to regulate weather and air pollution. A half century later, a Danish construction company built a Bucky Fuller-inspired “geodesic” dome in the center of one of Copenhagen’s largest plazas as an experiment in future living: single family home and mini urban farm included. “So the thinking of the dome itself and that was also Buckminster Fuller’s idea was: could you live inside a greenhouse,” explains the Dome of Visions founder Martin Manthorpe (of NCC Construction). The Danish dome, designed by architects Kristoffer Tejlgaard and Benny Jepsen, is also meant as a challenge to our conventional ideas on housing: “to explore the idea of the greenhouse as a third space that is both inside and outside at once”. At a time of increasingly strict regulations for for home energy performance, Manthorpe sees the design as an alternative to ultra-thick walls; instead, the greenhouse serves as the “outside” of the wall and the actual wall of the house is “inside”. The greenhouse was built with overlapping CNC-cut polycarbonate "fish scales". The home inside the greenhouse was designed for a family of 4 and since it’s protected from wind and rain it’s created with a minimum amount of resources and no glue or chemicals. The geodesic, or “omnitriangulated”, design popularized (and patented) by Fuller is inherently minimalist. It relies on Fuller’s concept of tensegrity, using tensional integrity (compression and tension) to make an extremely efficient structure that is strong while requiring little material. The Dome of Visions was inspired by the C60 molecule, AKA the “Buckminsterfullerene” or “bucky-ball” (a molecule discovered after Fuller’s death). Manthorpe sees the Dome of Visions as not only a model for future housing for single families, but on a larger scale, perhaps over a multi-family community or a city block. “When you look back in time in Buckminster Fuller’s era, in the sixties, I think that the dome was kind of equal to hippies and I think when that culture or whatever developed I think people forgot the dome and even didn’t think of that as a new way of living. I think it comes up now because we need to think differently when we think about construction and urban and city development.” http://domeofvisions.dk/dome-of-visions/ Original story: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/3d-printed-house-dome-inspired-bucky-fullers-tensegrity/

Comments

1. honestly all there is to this dome is a foundation some wood ,that looks to be 1x6,and some plexiglass. there is not much to this dome and i know it didnt take much money to build it.and look at what you have why isnt more poeple doing this as cheap as it is and strong as hell it would be great house for hurricanes if it had plywood inside of plexiglass
   
2. Do anyone know what is the size of this dome?
3. Exellent !
4. is there a part two to this video? i mean a follow up from, i believe Stockholm?? I would really appreciate that :)
5. Today on great, forward thinking ideas that would never be allowed by American building codes....
6. Won't work, TOOOoo hot during the summer! It's a hot house.
7. This must be the most exciting futuristic project I have ever seen
8. The idea is amazing! I'd love to have such stucture of my own house, but the area I live in is so windy. The question is how to wash all that glass materal when it gets dirty by dust and sorry for word, birds poo?)))
9. bit silly impractical shape to build prone to leaks
10. I love the concept. Some thoughts:
    
    Are the polycarbonate panels UV-resistant? How often would they have to be replaced in a more sunny environment? Do they get weaker or more fragile over time? How good is their fire resistance (e.g., forest or brush fire in the country, nearby dwelling fire or arson in the city)?
    
    Have you considered using a steel hexagonal frame for the shell doors? That should add more strength than the rectangle with less mass per element, and would be more intrinsic to the overall structure. (You could insert a conventional door frame within it, and even add sidelights.)
    
    One could also hang solar panels from the shell in a pattern to block direct sunlight within (for sunnier regions), or on the solid house walls (although, there are developments in transparent solar panels, which would be prime for the outer shell).
11. How well does this kind of structure, including the plastic shell material, hold up against high winds?
12. @Kirsten Dirksen Hello Kirsten, could you please tell me how thick the polycarbonate sheets are? What is the trademark Lexan? Do you know the cost of the entire project? Many thanks
13. Interesting video and domes are meant to be the most beneficial structure to live & i noted the house under dome mimics flat earth firmament model.
14. Where can i buy a kit to build a smaller one?
15. Jeg er helt væk i denne ide! kan slet ikke få nok
16. Really though, polar bears and wolves would tear right through those clear panels.
17. If you lived there and someone took a stinky poop... you're doomed. Awesome ventilation.
18. So damned cool! Solid engineering and creativity to help meet the demands of a changing world.
19. Lovely video but sad the dome isn't in Copenhagen any more, do you know where they moved it too? I'm hoping not far from the city center as I'd like to be able to bike to it.
20. Nice idea , but how much would it cost.