What happened to dome houses? Shop possibility?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Here's a cool concept - 3d printed homes. Opens up a ton of possibilities like homes that don't have straight walls.

https://www.iconbuild.com/

That is cool! I can imagine those concepts working well to create the triangles for a dome.

[Wes Grass]

I looked at a dome house for sale. Ridge top, southern'ish views, beautiful.

Early spring, Santa Cruz mountains. Already too hot inside for my tastes.

Dont know if its still there after the fires. There was one I'd dream about everytime I happened to drive out that way, Cedar shake roof and siding. Gorgeous. And *gone*. Fence surrounding it had a couple little char marks on the bottom of the closest boards.

Guy right below said he just had burned leaves all over his ... comp' roof.

[Jack Frederick]

I worked on a couple in the 70’s. One was site built and a nightmare getting the angles right. Another was a kit that went together pretty well. The concept of 100% of your building being roof never caught on for me. Apologies to Buckminster Fuller but that is it. The yurts they are building today are pretty nice. The 16’ diameter yurt I lived in for 1.5 yrs deep in Upstate NY woods was rough by comparison, but we were young.

[Frederick Skelly]

A neighbor out at the woodlot is turning a grain bin into a house. Images coming soon.

Off topic but following your thought….. I was in Akron Ohio on some business and saw this. Someone converted some old Quaker Oats silos into a hotel. I understand that a local university has bought it and made it a dorm.
IMG_0183.jpeg

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Off topic but following your thought….. I was in Akron Ohio on some business and saw this. Someone converted some old Quaker Oats silos into a hotel. I understand that a local university has bought it and made it a dorm.
IMG_0183.jpeg

There is hope that something like this will be done with very similar looking silos in Chicago.
There is a majestic old clay silo just down the road from the grain bin house that has been the topic of many "Wouldn't that make an awesome house" conversations.

Damen Solos in the news

[Bill Dufour]

Here's a cool concept - 3d printed homes. Opens up a ton of possibilities like homes that don't have straight walls.

https://www.iconbuild.com/

I saw something about 3d printed concrete houses. I saw no steel in the build.
Bill D

[Wes Grass]

Long glass fiber seems to do well to keep concrete together. Can get a bit 'fuzzy' at places its not well compacted in to.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

There is some discussion on the web about triangle dome sections with integrated solar cells. The concept of all of the parts being the same size and shape has some appeal. I do not see good solutions for how to fit them together with out leaks or what to cover them with. The dome our friend built was covered with hand split oak shakes. It was handy that their were shingle oaks on the property. The dome guy is very proud of his froe and still likes using it even though his post-op doctors orders forbid that kind of work.

[Jim Becker]

I saw something about 3d printed concrete houses. I saw no steel in the build.
Bill D

Matt Reisinger of the Build Show on the 'Tube has visited a community that is being 3D printed with concrete. It's pretty darn interesting how the process goes and homes are really nice.

[Bill Dufour]

Cedar shake roof and siding. Gorgeous. And *gone*. Fence surrounding it had a couple little char marks on the bottom of the closest boards.

Guy right below said he just had burned leaves all over his ... comp' roof.

This is why California has basically outlawed wood shingles and shakes. They can be treated to be somewhat fire resistant but it leaches out in a few years.
I suppose areas with lots of snow will have problems of colapse at the base. I have seen several A -frame houses with the bottom rotted.
Bill D

[Maurice Mcmurry]

When the oak shake covered dome burned all that was left was the concrete filler for the PVC hubs with 3 lag bolts sticking out and the Ashley Automatic wood stove. It looked like a UFO had touched down and left behind a hundred tiny sputniks and a charred wood stove. The dome guy gave the Ashley Automatic stove to Dad. It became our shop heater.


I have pictures of the dome somewhere. I came across the obituary for the guy who owned the land that it was built on. It is long and boring but sheds some light on the philosophy and hopefulness of alternative thinkers of that era.

Tom Watson taught art at Columbia College for 40 years before retiring in 2012 and was as enmeshed in the fabric of Columbia as a person can be. Watson's family moved to town when he was about 7 and, save his time at college, he lived in Columbia the rest of his life.
Longevity and ability intersected in Watson's life here. Colleagues and loved ones noted his lasting pattern of approaching — and then practically mastering — all manner of artistic media and subject matter.This month's exhibit underlines the depth and breadth of Watson's skill through his artwork. But so does a glance at his course load. Watson taught materials and media ranging from drawing and painting to ceramics and metals; he taught a number of 3-D processes and was instrumental in establishing the school's computer art offerings, Kim Watson said. During his life, Tom Watson traveled through many of Columbia's academic institutions. After his family moved to town in 1945, it was elementary school at Grant, junior high at Jefferson, and high school at Hickman, his obituary noted.The family rooted itself in central Columbia, buying a house in the First Ward, then eventually buying the house next door; the two are separated by a shared garage Watson and his father built, Kim Watson said from what she jokingly called "the Watson compound."A point of pride for Watson was his basketball career, which included game-winning, triple-overtime free throws to secure a — rare at the time — win over Jefferson City, and earned him a scholarship to Harding University in Arkansas, where he studied art.
Watson joined the faculty of Columbia College after his father, then working in maintenance at the school, mentioned him to legendary art professor Sid Larson. Watson's memorial exhibit is on display in the gallery bearing Larson's name. "And he taught them all very well," Sleadd added. "Tom was a master of academic art and taught with strong respect for tradition, technique and process."
His favorite classes, art principles and color theory, reflected a cerebral, disciplined approach to creating, Kim Watson said. To hear her describe it, he believed in firm artistic foundations for himself and his students.
Watson applied the same hands-on ingenuity to practical matters of construction and new technologies. In the early days of personal computers, he created a software program to predict winning lottery numbers, Kim Watson said.
"He was very skilled at keeping our digital lab running," Sleadd said. "This was years ago when the college had a small technical services contingent. I would compare our digital lab at that time to Battlestar Galactica's 'Ragtag fugitive fleet.' Tom could often be seen in the design studio with a computer in pieces — either repairing it or adding additional memory."The way Watson influenced his students is as tangible a reminder of his presence as his artwork, Sleadd noted.
"By seeing the work of artists we can connect with them and their development as individuals. But one can also see, sometimes, into the heart of the community and the world," he said. "In addition to looking at Tom's skilled artwork, we should look at the artwork and lives of his students. ... He enriched the lives of many, many students."
In the artist statement for a 2012 exhibit, shared with friends and fellow retiring faculty Ed Collings and Ben Cameron, Watson linked these two roles as vital to the generational growth of artists.
"Not all artists are superstars but they are all part of the collective. I am a visual artist and part of the current collective, but I am also in a unique position ... I am a teacher," he wrote. "It is this artist/teacher combination that has generated the works you will experience in this exhibit."The exhibit will span Watson's body of work, exploring everything from 3-D pieces to the hyperrealistic style honed in his painting, no less soulful for being so specific. Gazing at the work, it's as if Watson believed getting the details just right was the ultimate expression of an artist's affection.
The show features at least two pieces the Watson family thought might be lost to time — or at least an unknown storage closet. For the exhibit, the family borrowed a 1977 "Ducks Unlimited" painting from a private collection as well as a piece that once hung in the Columbia Public Schools administration building, then moved to the district's facilities building.

Screen Shot 2024-02-16 at 10.14.33 AM.jpg

[Steve Demuth]

I worked on a couple in the 70’s. One was site built and a nightmare getting the angles right. Another was a kit that went together pretty well. The concept of 100% of your building being roof never caught on for me.

Not just 100% roof, but a roof that is more or less all plane changes. and points, and where every window is at least to some degree a skylight. All together, a nightmare to keep watertight.

[Steve Demuth]

Matt Reisinger of the Build Show on the 'Tube has visited a community that is being 3D printed with concrete. It's pretty darn interesting how the process goes and homes are really nice.

I have thought for some time that a 3D printing of fiber reinforced concrete and continuous curve domes are a pretty interesting concept in small building construction. The printed buildings I've seen so far, though don't really take this concept very far - they often have a curved wall or two, but only curved in the horizontal plane.

[Bill Dufour]

I read, years ago, that the Sydney opera house concrete sail design cost two or three times what it should have.. Rather then being a metal frame with concrete panels the designer insisted it had to be solid self supporting with no temporary frame. Even the Romans used supports to build an arch then removed the wood after the keystone was in place. Not this guy!
Designing a bridge or large home is harder. it is not just how it will hold the weight after it is all built. It includes how it will hold itself up until it gets tied together.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

I have thought for some time that a 3D printing of fiber reinforced concrete and continuous curve domes are a pretty interesting concept in small building construction. The printed buildings I've seen so far, though don't really take this concept very far - they often have a curved wall or two, but only curved in the horizontal plane.

I suspect that this is more of a case where "practical" takes precedence over "art". I personally like me a curved wall to make things interesting, but when it comes down to how folks use typical residences, it's a bit harder to pull off. It's more attractive in larger homes, however, since there's more space to "do stuff". So in other words, it's not a technology limitation. The 3D printers appear to be able do to things very creatively just like their tiny brothers and sisters can on a desktop with PLA.