Selects: Geodesic Domes: The Wave of the Future That Wasn't | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

hey everybody uh Chuck here in 2023 but. I'm going to hop us all in the Wayback. machine and take us back to December. 2018 to listen to our episode on. geodesic domes because this ties into. the live show that we did last year uh. All About The Biosphere 2 project uh the. geodesic dome figured in very. prominently in that project uh we talk. all about uh Buckminster Fuller in this. episode who also figured into that live.

podcast and uh check it out now if. you're into architecture or just cool. things listen to geodesic does colon the. wave of the future that. wasn't welcome to stuff you should know. a production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. British Josh there's American Chuck and.

there's neutral Switzerland Jerry which. by the way now we're saying Switzerland. Switzerland I just decided cuz it's. close to the end of the year and I'm. about to die of exhaustion I love it uh. on The Friendly Fire movie podcast Ben. Harrison you know Ben he says uh Nazis. instead of Nazis that's like kind of. like a like a throwback that's like a. greatest Generation way of saying it. yeah and I know he does it as an. affectation sure but now I got it from. him and he got it from God knows where. his great grandpa maybe Nazis yeah.

that's a pretty great way to say because. there's a lot of occasion to say the. word Nazi sure a. lot now that you mention it uh and why. did you say you were British because I. Chuck say. geodesic and you say geodesic and we. just looked it up which I mean that's. like the first time in years the lady. said geodesic and I was like yes I'm. right or in America geodesic and I said. both right but then she didn't say.

though it was British it could be like. whatever South African could be I guess. so africaner I well Afric Conor is not. English well yeah you know what I mean. we're so far off course already Jerry's. just got ramen coming through her nose. she thought that was so. funny um thanks for the laugh Jerry well. we are talking about geodesic desic. maybe we should just say that every time. say them both I'm sure people would love. that I'm going to say geodesic cuz.

that's what I've always said okay great. I'm going to say geodesic that's fine um. we're talking about domes geodesic domes. and um if you have ever seen a weird. Contraption of a circular house a ball. house you might call it a sphere house. you've seen a geodesic dome if you've. ever been to Epcot sure um I went when I. was a kid you've seen a geodesic dome. they're all over the place do you all. right do you like these as like people's.

houses in a neighborhood or wherever no. I don't either but I don't I mean I'm. not going to yuck anybody's yum you know. what I'm saying no I mean when reading. and and researching like they're cool. and there're a lot of like great. advantages right than that we'll go over. but uh I just don't care for them right. aesthetically I don't either and. actually if you if you um read a quote. from Buckminster Fuller the guy who. actually didn't invent geodesic Jones. we'll get into all that anyway he said. one of the reasons they never took off.

was because they're weird looking yeah. they just are and the and well I'm not. going to say that I really you tell me. later okay yeah I just don't care for. him you know it's like I'm a. Craftsman California Craftsman Bungalow. type guy I'm a small about the opposite. of a geodisc dome it's pretty angular. for sure yeah and the geodesic dome is. angular everybody put your laptops away. geometry nerds.

uh but it's not rectangular and a. Craftsman is definitely rectangular like. you can even make a case the roof is not. a triangle it's a rectangle on its. side I just made that case how's it. going yeah pretty good uh I also and. although I probably will never live in. one I do love a modern uh like a. mid-century modern that's my thing I. love it but I just it's not really like. ultimately where I would want to live. for the rest of my life well okay so I.

don't want to feel like I'm like in. Finland in the winter or something like. that that's not I'm talking midcentury. American actually built for a family in. like the mid-50s early 60s I love it. that has all little cool details and. built-ins in a wall that doesn't even. really need to be there and you can see. right through it CU it's like wood. spindles and stuff that's what I like. yeah me too not Ultra Modern mid-century. modern yeah okay mid-century yeah that's. what we call it now but you still you. don't think you could live in one of. those cuz a Craftsman guy we'd have to.

get all new stuff like if we started. over like if our if our God forbid if. our house burned down and we lost. everything right I could start over like. that but like the stuff that we have. doesn't fit like you know Grandma's. antique bar doesn't really go in that. setting I've seen that bar and that. thing is classic thank you you could put. it anywhere grandma was a bit of a boo. Hound huh well they didn't use it as a. bar they had like humble figurines and. stuff and I saw it it was funny when I.

first saw it I was like oh God I don't. really want that like they're giving it. to us and then we turned it to a bar and. I was like it's amazing what 30 liquor. bottles do exactly can really dress up a. homo figurine cabinet so clearly we're. talking again about geodesic does and. there was a period in time check where. you could go into some neighborhoods. around the country and you could find. well-to-do hippie. types environmental types back to. earthers um living in these geodesic.

domes and it's not like they were living. in a tent it was their house they had. Plumbing and Heating and electricity and. all this stuff it's just that it was a. dome yeah there was one near where I. grew up actually and we would pass it. going to elementary school and it was. always just sort of like yeah there's. those weirdos that built the weird house. isn't it interesting though like that. had some impact on who you are today no. matter how my neuter house small but. seeing that every every day or every. weekday that had to have some impact on. you yeah and theirs was also one of.

those uh it was also partially. underground even so there was an exposed. dome but then that was sort of built. into a hill and so they were fullon like. they had a lot of hippie cred yeah they. were going for it and looking back they. were probably super cool people probably. they were wearing birken stocks way. before anybody else is wearing Birkin. stocks so let's talk a little bit about. the first geodesic dome a little geodic. history okay okay all right you you have. to go way back Way Way Back to.

1926 and not only do we have to go back. we have to go to Germany Jenna. Germany I don't know where that is I. don't either but there is a very famous. Optics company called Zeiss I do know. that sure um and Zeiss wanted to build a. planetarium on top of one of their. factories their Factory at Jenna Germany. and they said uh please build us a. planetarium Walter. bowfield where if if you didn't know if. he was German or not just listen to his. name Feld Feld even more German yeah and.

he said sure let me think about this and. uh I'll see what I can come up with and. he came up with what was widely pointed. to as the world's first geodesic dome. yeah and it was a good uh it was a good. idea for this project in particular. because they needed it to be light. because it had to go on top of a roof. right um they needed it to hold a lot of. people and obviously because it was a. planetarium that that interior roundness. was kind of key mhm be weird to have a.

square planetarium it would you know. especially if you're like I didn't know. Venus could take a corner like I didn't. know he could do that right uh so that's. what he did and um it was it really. worked well it did house a lot of people. I mean not house but you know could hold. a lot of. people uh it can withstand storms and. this is these are some of the factors. that make them uh not only popular but. uh like a good idea depending on where.

you are like if you're in Antarctica. right they have them there and that it's. perfect for that kind of weather yeah. there was a a period in time which we'll. see in a second where GE geodesic domes. were like the house of the future it was. a very very good idea that never took. off because everybody said no we think. those are kind of weird we don't feel. comfortable with that pretty much so um. uh Bowers feld's um planetarium actually. kicked off a planetarium craze it was. apparently the first planet Arium on. Earth which I would make the case you.

can just say the first planetarium in. the universe then probably so um but. because there were people who started to. build planetariums as a result of this. geodesic domes kind of became a thing. yeah but it wasn't until a guy named. Richard Buckminster Fuller of Carbondale. Illinois yeah very big deal came along. and actually patented the geodesic dome. that they really became that house of. the future thing that I was talking. about yeah and he was a an engineer and. a sort of a Visionary thinker one of the.

great Americans I think yeah um we could. do a show on him alt together I think. agreed but uh his whole Jam was like. well first of all he saw the inherent to. like good points to these um and and. we'll get into all those but first and. foremost you can you can have a huge. volume of space with very little. materials very lightweight materials and. it's still be super strong right which. is awesome uh but so because of this he. thought thought like he had a higher.

goal in mind which was like the housing. in the future like they don't cost that. much money uh they can hold you know. people safely and like this is how we. should think about housing right you. could you could build it offsite at a. factory and deliver it by helicopter it. was that light kind of put it together. about like a kit yep and like you were. saying it required because it could. withstand more weight uh it required. less building materials which meant it. was lower cost um and supposedly you.

could put these things like a good kit. together in a day if you were really. cruising along at a good clip sure so um. you had some uh some highgrade 60 speed. right exactly give it to all your. friendss NE. yeah um man you got me with that one so. so this just became plainly obvious that. this is going to be the house of the. future there's um one of the other. things about it is there is no other. building structure that has a larger.

volume of space with the least amount of. surface area yeah and he got this idea. through looking at nature uh he very. famously looked at things like crystals. and seed pods and things like that and. thought like you know nature and a lot. of people do this in design they look to. Nature because Nature has sort of proven. to get it right usually over the years. yeah like if you look at an eggshell. you're like this thing shouldn't. withstand anything and yet it does and.

it's a very curious thing but it sure. looks like it could slip out of a. chicken's butt with ease right which is. kind of what it does like what if it was. Square it slips out of the. Kaka it's true so um Bucky Fuller as. he's known he apparently I I don't know. if he wasn't aware of Bowers feld's. design or something did you get that. impression I don't I couldn't tell if. this was nefarious he seemed like a good. guy so I don't think he like stole this. idea but he was able to secure a patent.

he did and there's a really great time. article if you can find it it's called. daxian American daxian was a word that. was associated with him um he he just. made up words a lot but he it it tells. it it's from 1964 it says that he was. trying to figure out a geometry of. energy and he was using spheres as a. model of energy no idea but he was. putting spheres together and his his. idea was that when you put spheres. together they would just make a larger. and larger sphere mhm but that's not.

what happened if he took a central. sphere and put other spheres around it. and pushed it together and what he found. was that it started to make squares and. triangles rather than a larger sphere. and he figured out that what he had just. come up with was actually a very smart. structure that you could take those. squares and divide those into triangles. and you could take the triangles and. divide the triangles into even smaller. triangles and if you kind of curve the. the edges of the triangles inward. towards some imagin Center inside the.

sphere you actually create a sphere and. technically it's a polyhedron and most. geodomes are aah hedron which if you. play Dungeons and Dragons is just a. 20-sided die yeah but the more you cut. the sides into smaller and smaller. triangles the the more the closer to an. actual perfect sphere you you get and. that's a geodesic sphere and if you cut. it in half or cut a portion of it yeah. and just use one half of it that's a. geodesic dome yeah which is what you see.

like uh it's not fully round because it. has to be flat and sit on something. right well actually um the spaceship. earth geodesic dome Epcot is a full. sphere but that is pretty rare uh and I. thought it was interesting too um that. they said that if you. were just designing something on paper. you could just design bigger and bigger. and it would just get stronger and. stronger but in reality um that's really. not the case like when when rubber meets.

the road there really there's really. only so big you can kind of get yeah. because I had no idea about this you. know I was roughly familiar with. geodesic domes I didn't know any details. but one thing that I was surprised to. find is that the the triangles are not. all the same size yeah they have to be. adjusted to make this shape to make this. circle or the sphere so um if you're. putting together one of these things as. we'll see you have to be like oh this. strut goes here not here and I actually.

put it here up on the top and now I have. to go tick the whole thing apart again. and yeah the less complex the better. impr practicality but yeah you can. really mess with it to make it virtually. a p a perfect sphere out of triangles uh. yeah and you mentioned a minute ago that. and I think people that pay attention. were probably like oh Josh is so funny. or what did he just say did Buck. Minister Fuller uh make up words yeah he. did because he made up another word when. when it comes to these domes uh.

tensegrity which is not a good word it's. not uh he mix two work together uh. tensional and integrity uh and so that's. the relationship between the tension and. compression and that really kind of. describes how these things fit together. and why they end up being super strong. even though when you look at it you're. like man I could blow that thing over. right so let's let's take a break and. then we'll get into like the actual. Dynamics going on okay and geometry yes. promise.

[Music]. yes St the surface serious. all right Chuck I promised it's time to.

talk geometry how'd you do in Geometry I. failed the first time ace to the second. time I'm actually really glad that I. failed it because when I was forced to. take it again by the man uh and this is. high school right yeah yeah um I it. clicked and I've never understood any. field of math like I understood geometry. I don't quite remember it now but like I. understood geometry like I was. Pythagoras's like brother I kind of I. wasn't quite at that level but I feel.

like because I'm I have long sort of poo. pooed the maths yeah but you've. retracted that right well yeah but I. mean just for as my my P brain like. understanding it I understood geometry. more than all the other math right and. uh I did okay in it for for an English. nerd yeah you know good enough. completely different than anything else. I feel like in that geometry does seem. like its own thing for sure it's very. much its own thing like yeah there's. numbers and sigma makes an appearance. and stuff like that but it definitely.

seems to be it's different than algebra. I'll tell you that buddy shout out to. Miss K rean High School oh I wish I. could remember my geometry teacher the. one it clicked with she was great she. was one of those teachers that's like. was 70 years old from the time that she. was 28 till the time she was 70 she was. great and then she turned back into 28. yeah she uh I remember she had this. polka dot it's funny the things that you. remember she had this polka dot shirt. where all the polka dots were collected. at the bottom and she said that it used. to be all over but she hung it up to dry.

that was her big joke it's a great joke. she's like welcome to my class it's the. only joke of the Year let's get busy. yeah I bet you there's one person out. there who had Miss K and knows that. shirt yeah I hope it's a great joke Miss. k um okay so we're talking geometry. right yeah do you remember our bridges. episode yeah remember we talked about. Bridge trusses the bridges that are made. up of triangular shapes and we said like. those things are. extraordinarily strong because they're.

triangles yeah man triangles same thing. here can't beat them a geodesic dome or. sphere is a sphere made up of triangles. and if you actually take the Triangular. shape and build one in. reality it is one of the strongest. shapes you can um create because. wherever you press on it it transfers. that pressure that Force to the rest of. the shape so it. distributes that kind of of weight or. pressure or force or whatever you want.

to lay on on it it distributes it evenly. and if you put another triangle together. with one triangle it sends it to the. other triangle too and so the more. triangles you add the more a force is. distributed throughout it and that's why. basically that's why it's so strong like. what you were saying like you look at it. you're like I could blow that over you. might be able to push it over and make. it roll away if it's a sphere but you. you probably could not break it yeah. yeah and when you look at like if you're.

inside one of these it's usually covered. with like wood or drywall or something. so it's not as evident but on the. outside you generally can still see this. Frame of triangles right all fitting. together uh beautifully to make. something super super strong yes and. apparently the strongest version of a. geodesic dome or sphere um is one that's. actually made not just out of triangles. but out of pyramids if you look at if. you look at the um Epcot spaceship earth.

geodesic sphere it's actually pyramids. all the triangles are actually yeah that. is that's it that's the. money geodesic dome yeah and that one. since we're on that is interesting in. that uh one of the downfalls and we'll. go over more later but one of the. downfalls of geodesic domes is sometimes. rain doesn't treat them well yeah uh but. the one in at Epcot was just like we're. not even going to pretend that we want.

to repel the rain right they have little. grooves that actually collect the rain. and that send it to one of those uh. little corny lagoons I love those. lagoons I know I love everything about. Epcot I haven't been since I was in. seventh grade it's great is I mean did. they update it or is it still very much. like the World of Tomorrow today no. they've updated it I mean the whole. thing is still like that yeah but. there's like newer stuff like there's a. really cool um ride an immersive ride. called saurin uh where like you get.

lifted up and you're in front of this. huge giant curved movie screen and. you're like so soaring through this like. the world like a world tour it's really. neat did they move your little thing. around so you feel like you're you. definitely feel like you're soaring. through there yeah that's like the uh. when they debuted that Back to the. Future ride years ago was it like that. yeah you sit in the DeLorean and it's on. Hydraulics and it's like moving all. around but it's a movie screen of you. yeah and you're and you're going through. but it's it's amazing how like accurate.

they can sync that up to where you. really feel like right like I remember. that was at one point where the the car. was on the edge of a cliff and it was. sort of teetering and it got really. quiet and then it teetered over and then. it the car just stopped moving and you. felt like you were falling wow just. because it stopped moving right and if. you like turned around and looked. backwards you're like everyone's. freaking out and you're just sitting in. the car doing nothing but everybody's. going oh it was so great nice I loved. so we were saying like this this thing.

pops up all over nature yeah the. geodesic dome did and This Time Magazine. put um article put it really beautifully. that um it was like Buckminster Fuller. had discovered a signature of God whoa. just made scare quotes yeah because. around God. signature the whole thing it since it is. such like a an efficient structure that. can support a lot of weight you do see. it in things like eggs the cornea the. test. which I'm like really I guess so I.

couldn't find that anywhere else and I. definitely typed testical geodesic dome. into Google and it didn't really come. back with anything but this 1964 time. article says it so it's so well the Dome. period is a pretty strong structure um. the Romans were building really big. strong domes uh a long long time ago but. they don't stay strong for long that's. sort of one of the problems with a dome. just regular Dome is that you need a lot.

of super heavy supporting materials and. walls right to keep it up and over time. they wear out but uh what Fuller did was. took that sort of same principle and. applied this geometry to it right and. these triangles that the Romans you know. didn't think of and the rest is history. I guess yeah what what he found was that. when you put these spheres together you. you created what he called the vector. equilibrium the outward Force of the. thing that's trying to collapse it you.

know how like if you if you could press. down on the roof of a house it would. collapse outward to the sides yes same. thing wants to happen to G geodesic dome. but in a geodesic dome that pressure. outward from the force of gravity makes. it stronger is actually equal to the. force that's being distributed around it. yeah the circumferential Force mhm and. since they're equal in equal measure. they they cancel each other out yeah so.

it's just like the thing is is gravity. free yeah I mean you see you definitely. see why he was like this is the house of. the future yeah because they were cheap. they were strong uh they were. lightweight and you know they distribute. uh like heat just blows around them. because they're round right they're. really efficient to heat and cool there. a lot of really great advantages to them. yeah and so when he I can't remember. when he made his first one I think it. was at a uh World's Fair was that the.

the Montreal was that the first one no. Montreal was 67 this one would have been. in. Moscow um 54 well that's when he got us. patented yeah I guess this would have. been be then right around the same time. but uh. in 59 yeah I guess the first one must. have been Ford the Ford plant yeah the. Ford Motor Company wanted a. covering um and he said well I think. this is the trick mhm and it he and he.

built it he was like I can and this is. what Ford wants to hear or any company. right he was like it'll be better and. cheaper and I'll get it done faster. right than any of these other Schmucks. and so bear in mind that when when Ford. called them from Dearborn Michigan that. they no one had ever come up with this. before they thought since they wanted to. enclose their Courtyard the central. Courtyard and this rotunda that they'. built um that it was going to have to be. a traditional Dome. with butresses and supports and like.

heavy walls and all that the problem was. is because the courtyard was so far. across I think it was more than 30 M 90. ft across um anything that they built. would probably collapse the walls of. this very sturdy rotunda building so. they had a problem and when they called. Buckminster Fuller I don't know how who. got in touch with who um it was pretty. Brazen for him to say what what you said. he said that he can get this done low. cost end time it's going to be super.

light and he proved the world wrong his. doubters wrong at least when he built. the first geodesic dome over and it was. pretty awesome also we didn't mention he. was a freshman a freshman College. Dropout yeah um so he's self-taught and. he just came along and and showed the. world of engineering a basically a brand. new type of structure an incredibly yeah. elegantly uh efficient type of structure. he just showed the world it could be. done yeah some people are just born with.

like a certain kind of brain that's why. he deserves his own episode for sure. yeah so uh the Ford uh Dome was was. great for a while uh until 1962 when it. was leaking and they said hey this. thing's leaking we need to uh do some. repair work so they were doing that and. they were waterproofing and. weatherproofing uh the panels and they. were using a waterproof see-through. transparent waterproof sealer uh but to. make it easier to spray they heated it. up which makes sense uh but.

unfortunately those Vapors ignited from. a propane heater this thing caught on. fire and uh I get the idea that it was. like it the the whole thing was done in. like an hour yeah because they sealed a. lot of it with the waterproofing the. highly flamable waterproofing stuff so. when a little bit caught those Vapors. caught the whole Dome caught fire and it. was made of like aluminum and plastic so. it just went up like a match yeah and. they were decorating waiting for the. Christmas fantasy exhibit Below in the.

courtyard all that stuff caught on fire. it burned the whole rotunda down imag. huge building there's nothing more. flammable than Christmas decorations in. the early 1960s not chance yeah it's. really sad uh everyone got out of there. which is good but by the time the fire. department got there it was too late it. was toast uh 50ft Flames like I can't. imagine what that scene look like and it. burned the whole building down like this. was actually a a tourist attraction and. deer imagine going to Dearborn Michigan.

to see the Ford Dome yes that's what. people did I think it had seen like 18. million visitors in like it's 20 or 30. years of operation and this this. waterproofing fix burn the Whole Thing. Down at Christmas time so this I love. how this article kind of brushes over it. says no matter Buck Mr Fuller's geodesic. doome had shown that it could be done. yeah it it bearss a little more digging. in that for sure but it it is true like. he had shown the world there's this.

thing and we should start making them. because they are efficient cheap. affordable and highly transportable and. apparently next the next people to call. was the military because they wanted to. start using them as like Antarctic bases. or to cover radar dishes that kind of. thing yeah he very famously too in 1967. at uh now was this the World's Fair or. is this a different thing no they just. didn't call it World's Fair right the. Universal Exposition in Montreal uh in '.

67 very famously had a a 200t tall Dome. uh and he was he was really trying to. push the limits of what you could do. like he he dreamed of enclosing part of. Manhattan in a dome yeah and saying we. could give you clean air and climate. control and it'll pay for itself over. time because you won't have to use snow. plows and all these other like things. that cost money it seems ghastly almost. like a. Bernan type of of idea well it would I. mean there would definitely be a certain.

class of people that lived in that thing. yeah but it's I doubt if he'd be like. we'll do it over all of you know Queens. right well yeah it was lower it was 22nd. to 62nd I think from River to River in. Manhattan wow it was it was going to be. huge and he did say it could pay for. itself just from snow removal not having. to do snow removal but imagine not. having precipitation ever I it's just. it's it's wrong there's something wrong. with that but it really captures the can. do. engineering Spirit of of mid-century.

America for sure yeah I mean you can do. a cool experiment with like a biosphere. type of thing but you don't want. Manhattan covered by a dome no you know. all all the smells maybe topa or. something like that and that's one of. the problems is all the smells. apparently like they just fill up that. Dome there's nothing to stop it right. yeah the sewer gas accumulating at the. top and eventually exploding yeah no. good the Ghostbusters running around. shooting off proton packs inside that. thing no good man it's been a while mhm.

since the GB ref mhm should we take a. break mhm all right we'll be right. [Music]. back.

seriously all right so the 60s and70s. come along he's been doing his thing in. the 50s yeah and this is when the uh the. counterculture and the anti-mainstream. sort of vibe was hitting and so it was. sort of prime it was sort of primed for. these things to come into fashion and. and they did just for regular old houses. yeah not they didn't sweep the nation no. but you know there were enough people. looking to for ways to very blatantly.

thumb their nose at The Establishment. yeah look at my Round House basically. yeah and and again like it really does. it does provide a lot of um benefits. that other ones don't right so like. because it's a it's a sphere and it's. basically one big room yeah well yes but. you can build rooms inside of it you can. sure um but the the heat in the um the. air distribution MH is really efficient. so it's very cheap to heat and cool I.

think the the average number that people. reported was about a 30% savings in um. energy cost that sounds totally made up. it does but I saw as high as 50 and it. seems like the world said no we'll go. with 30 we'll go with the low that seems. believable um and so you've got Heating. and Cooling efficiencies like you were. saying because it's round it's not. trying to stop wind like Cool Wind hot. wind when it runs into to your house if. it's a rectangular house Craftsman.

midcentury modern who cares it it runs. into it and it's going to transfer heat. or cold into your house yeah in my case. right through my windows and okay yeah. it's a great great example the thing is. is you don't want that heater that cool. in there usually so you're going to have. to spend a lot of money to artificially. pump it out right yeah through AC um. with with a geodesic dome the the wind. kind of moves around it it's super. aerodynamic so it's not just running.

into this flat surface and trying to go. through it's just like yeah excuse me. I'll just go around yeah and that's why. they're great in Antarctica um they can. withstand whatever kind of weather they. throw they Antarctica is they penguin. and I have seen some of these at the. beach um again they're not like the the. coolest looking beach house but you see. him you know you'll see like quaint old. Beach House Cape Cod geodesic dome yeah. and then like mcmansion and I imagine.

they do very well at the beach yeah. because after a hurricane if a hurricane. is bad enough you see empty lot empty. lot geodesic dome empty lot and. apparently that's that's it's anecdotal. but that's the been reported that. geodesic domes can make it through. substantial hurricanes when the rest of. the houses around it did not yeah it. makes sense um some of the disadvantages. is like we were joking about the smell. but it's really true smell and sound if. you've just got a big globe that you're.

inside are really going to move around. uh there's not a ton of privacy even. though you can build out sort of like. living in a loft you know you can build. out rooms right but if your rooms don't. have a ceiling although I guess you. could do that too you could but then. you're like well you know like why am I. even an adult right. exactly uh light as well mhm um that's a. big one yeah you know like the little. light on your router that's like really. bright at night oh God imagine that just. being distributed throughout your entire.

house yeah no good no that's not a good. one plus I mean if you look at any piece. of furniture that's ever been created in. the history of humanity it's all meant. for rectangular structures yeah unless. it's some sort of custom piece for a. geodesic tone which is very expensive. yeah you have to get all this stuff made. yourself and the same goes true for uh. like the the construction world is set. up for square right uh so fixtures and. and plumbing and pipes and all that. stuff has to be sort of uh and.

contractors get scared away from these. things oh yeah they won't come near it. yeah unless you're just a. specialist sure and you're probably like. the highest paid contractor in the world. yes who works like once a year yes um. but those same disadvantages are also. advantages right like you have a lot. more floor. space yeah but sometimes it's wasted it. can be like if you've got a a big long. couch you've got a bunch of space behind. it that's just sitting there a little a.

little semicircle behind you that's why. a lot of and I think this is the reason. why I'm not super hip on geodomes is um. a lot of the stuff is just kind of out. in the center of the room right right. and it looks a drift or unanchored. that's a good thing about a wall or a. corner or something like that it. provides a a visual anchor to your stuff. no one can sneak up on you no that's. another maybe that's why I don't like it. I'm like what's what's behind me do you. like your back against the wall in a. restaurant no I don't care about that oh.

man do you yeah really you afraid you're. going to what are you a gangster or. something no I don't think I'm going to. get whacked it's just uh I I just feel. exposed and Emily is very sweet she's. usually like go ahead and take the seat. but lately she's been like no that's. mine oh yeah yeah wow what' you do. nothing man it's just the time we're. living in she she's doing it so do you. sit there and like turn around every. time somebody comes in the waiter comes. in and I punch him I turn around punch. him don't touch my stuff uh rain we.

talked about rain um it can be. problematic uh and it says in here that. flat roofs are the best what they mean. are flat roofs at an angle because a. truly flat roof is the worst is not good. Frank Lloyd Wright did a bunch of those. and they were his his houses were could. be very problematic uh he had the very. famous exchange I can't remember the the. person but uh it was some very very. wealthy sort of noteworthy person Frank. Lloyd Wright built him a house and he.

called and complained and said the water. is is now dripping onto my desk and. supposedly Frank Lloyd Wright said move. the desk that sounds like Frank Lloyd. Wright yeah for sure I don't know if. that's a true story but gu it's true. yeah yeah um so with with the with the. shingle roof even with the flat roof. like a flat roof is not moving water but. it's probably not coming down there's. not as many places for it to come down. with a geodesic dome every place where. your struts the sides of the triangle.

come together at an angle at the nodes M. there is a point where water can get in. and actually it can get in along where. one triangle goes into another there's a. lot of places for water to penetrate. geodesic dome it's a water nightmare. yeah from what I can tell well it's put. together from a lot of little panels. yeah so let's let's just really briefly. say that so one of the things one of the. reasons why people were crazy for. geodesic domes is you could put them.

together like we said in a day yeah you. can get a colorcoded kit you still can. yeah and there are companies out there. that will send them to you and you can. get your friends right get some good 60. speed and a case of beer or two and. build your house in a couple of days. yeah and not sleep the entire time. that's right um so when you when you put. these things together you're you're. building the structure and then you're. coding the structure it can be uh one. kit I saw is like Greenhouse it's a.

really great Greenhouse I bet if you've. ever been on a jungle gym that was built. after the 60s you know those Dome ones a. geodesic dome um but what the structure. can be made from like a hollow tubing. ply or um 2x4s whatever it can be wood. it can be whatever and then usually the. the outside the triangles that fill in. over the structure concrete or plastic. or plywood or something like that and. then you want to coat it but all those. different SEALS or those different seams.

they're all just water Heaven yeah um. which is again a big problem probably. probably problem number one practically. speaking Yeah it's interesting now that. I think about it it's sort of how tent. design has gone over the years tents. used to be just like camping tents just. like triangles mhm uh like a pup tent. and then the big dome tents came into. fashion and then. I think the secret was to try and make. Dome tents with as few seams as possible.

yeah cuz that's where your water gets in. yeah and it's few poles too yeah just a. couple and then maybe a and then there. you go you got your tent you could be a. ENT. designer I I want to go ahead and. trademark what I just said okay uh. should we talk about some famous stes I. think we should cuz that's always the. best part there's the Expo 67 one that. by the way burned as well oh really the. structure no the structure stayed they.

turned it into a biosphere in the '90s I. believe oh so uh Brendan Fraser list in. there and poly sh and Stephen Baldwin. sure man alive that's where he's been uh. there is the in these to me like if you. look up the uh how do you pronounce the. one in Japan the. Fukuoka yaho oku Dome oh is that the. full name yahu oku with an exclamation. point because Yahoo is that the spor got. the naming rights yeah so that is a.

baseball stadium but when you look at. these like I. don't like to me I think of. Epcot when you look at this baseball. stadium it doesn't feel I mean it is a. geodesic dome but it just doesn't feel. like that kind of. futuristic like highly paneled. triangular thing well what's cool about. it is the the Dome part actually. retracts yeah retractable roof in like. 20 minutes and the reason it retracts so. quickly is because it's so lightweight. comparatively speaking Yeah so it's.

pretty sweet there's the Tacoma Dome. yeah which is a wood Dome that just does. not sound sturdy to me yeah what was it. oh our skycrapers episode that was that. that new wood skyscraper somewhere uh. why do I want to say like Nebraska I. thought that was Japan too oh was it I. think so it's one of the two right it's. easy to get him confused Saka Nebraska. they sound alike yeah uh the Tacoma Dome.

is where the the Sonics used to play. they're like Kevin Durant's gonna love. this oh man so sad uh I wonder uh when a. team leaves I've always wondered if they. just because I know like when the Browns. left and became the Ravens you know my. stepfather was like they were just dead. to me wait what yeah that's where the. Ravens came from they were the Cleveland. Browns where the brown the Browns aren't. playing still no no no they they the. Browns had no there were no Browns for.

years okay and then they came back and. said we'll give you a team again. Cleveland and you can be the Browns. again gotcha but he Art Modell literally. famously packed up in the middle of the. night like their footage of 18wheeler. trucks at like 2 a.m. like hauling stuff. yeah you don't want to leave Cleveland. ask LeBron but they were dead to him. after that I always wonder like if the. Falcons left Atlanta and went to. Birmingham they'd still be the same guys. i' I would I wouldn't be like no screw. that team no that's definitely how it.

went with the Super Sonics for sure yeah. Seattle was not very happy about that no. they weren't not I don't but supposedly. they're going to get another team one of. the Microsoft Founders I guess wnc is. talking about bringing them bringing te. Somebody from Microsoft is gonna bring a. team they're saying well was it Paul. Allen I don't think so he just passed. away though right maybe it was Paul. Allen I mean he owned the sonics I think. but he was from Microsoft I'm just. getting all confused now no I think.

you're Paul Allen was Bill Gates partner. he died yeah I think he died kind of in. the last like six months oh well maybe. Seattle's not getting a basketball team. I'm not sure okay where did they go oh. Oklahoma City right yeah oh it's so. confusing everyone for two half Sports. guys like us we don't even make a full. Sports guy who's your team this season. well I always read for the Hawks but. it's just they're a wasteland it's. pretty bad so I don't even care yeah who. does shuder play for now play for.

Oklahoma City does he Oh I thought it. was a different Western team you like. LeBron in La sure we should have a sport. show called the worst Sports show on the. on the web kind of this is a trailer for. it uh what about the Eden project that. that one's pretty cool and aren't there. two of these in there one in China as. well I think they're going to open one. in China I think there's a third one. they're opening but the one that the. original ones in corn Cornwall I'm sorry. Canal cornhole in in the.

UK God knows how you pronounce that I. guarantee it's not Cornwall it's. probably Cornwall maybe um this one's. really cool though this is one where you. look it up and you're like this is what. you should be doing right with in. geodisc doome like uh experimentation. they build a diome or biome yeah that's. one of the points of a geodesic dome is. you can create a different climate. inside a larger climate it's a bubble. you're creating a climate bubble that's.

what the Eden Project did at least and. they have two of them they've got a. tropical biome and then a smaller. Mediterranean biome and they're just. beautiful lots of amazing plants and. waterfalls and just great stuff. apparently it's a wonderful tourist. attraction I would go to I think there's. also a witchcraft Museum in Cornwall. that I want to go to let's do it man all. right we're going road trip yeah we got. to do a UK tour again yeah that was. awesome and then we'll detour off to. Cornwall maybe do a show there how many. people are there I don't Cornwall let us.

know if we should do a show there let's. do a live show inside the tropical biome. oh that'd be cool I wonder if we could. set that up we could also do an adep cot. too we'll do we'll do a a geodesic dome. tour can we do one inside of the the. castle in the Magic Kingdom we can ask. you have connections there right yeah. our friend Brandon that's right who. built my site the joshclarkway dcom I. know I'm going to have to get in touch. with him as my kid gets older have to to. finally drag Emily down there he will. happily help you out he's a great guy he.

helped my brother out oh and by the way. I'm glad you brought that up. congratulations to Brandon and Katie on. the birth of their first ever child oh. wow yes Cooper born into Disney royalty. yeah pretty much that's pretty great. congrats dudes I wonder if Cooper's. going to go up and just be like n take. it or leave it I go like twice a week. right this isn't Euro Disney I wish it. was Euro. Disney uh well that is spaceship earth. of course is the one we're talking about. there that we mentioned 180 ft tall uh. silver.

geosphere uh very much the central sort. of shining star of Epcot that's what. everybody thinks of with Epcot yep on. every shirt well not every shirt but 98%. 98% did you know that Epcot is an. acronym. Chuck I did but I I remembered that from. when I was a kid but I can't remember. now what is it experimental prototype. community of tomorrow that's right and. the the name of the geodesic dome is. actually called spaceship earth and it. was directly influenced by Bucky Fuller.

um Walt Disney was a big futurist that's. why there's like tomorrow land and all. that stuff yeah and why there's Epcot in. general um but not only did he Inspire. spaceship earth the name spaceship earth. comes from a Bucky Fuller essay kind of. a Nolla called an operating manual for. spaceship earth and you can find the PDF. for free on the. and get a pretty good idea of Bucky. Fuller's whole Jam you know what I heard.

I heard that that very famous Walt. Disney Signature is not his signature. and that like a cartoonist designer came. up with that for him too perfect I could. totally see that yeah I'm not I'm not. affected by that I'm okay with it oh. really he's not just a big fraud now in. your mind. basically I let him off the hook uh if. you want to know more about geodesic. domes go make friends with a hippie and. since I said that it's time for listener.

mail uh I'm going to call one of our new. Young fans got a very sweet email from. Veronica uh hey guys I'm Veronica 15. years old and I'm from Indianapolis. Indiana I just heard about Sarah the. 13-year-old Super Fan M who's like 50. now yeah Sarah's she's Miss k um and I. too am a super fan I started listening. when I was 9 or 10 uh with my mom every. once in a while then I got a iPod. started listening to you regularly when. I was 11: I love listening to the show.

when I'm getting ready in the morning. and I'm going to school or going to. sleep before bed every time you guys do. a tour announcement I always hope you're. going to say somewhere close like within. 2 hours of Indianapolis but I don't. think that has ever happened dude. Cleveland is not that far from. Indianapolis I took a break from podcast. for about 2 months but I miss listening. to them so I came back and now I'm back. uh regularly again I just want to stop. in and say hi if I'm lucky I'll make it. to the podcast but I don't expect it uh. just keep being you guys because I love. to learn about the four different types.

of cat hair the fact that cinnamon is a. type of tree bark perfume is made from. whale vomit and osol is what makes. poison ivy so itchy wow uh my mom really. likes your beard Chuck and she hopes. that someone gifts you some beard lights. for Christmas oh I saw those if you. don't know what they are they're just. little ornaments that you hang in your. beard have you seen them and they light. up super festive do you want some no. okay I cut most of my beard off I just. noticed that it looks very trim this is. sort of like the old days looks nice uh.

and that is she put signed to Veronica. which is adorable thank you Veronica so. Veronica uh I think we should we're. trying to hit the major cities we've. never been to eventually right I think. we might want to put Indianapolis on the. list for 2019 oh boy and uh and give. Indiana some love okay fine this year we. were like I don't know Salt Lake City. Phoenix and they were great it's true. well to be honest Salt Lake City came. out for us they they emailed us they're. like yes please come we got such an.

overwhelming response that we're like. how could we say no so we should go to. Indianapolis I told her if we do then. we'll put her and Mom on the guest list. that is very nice okay they have a dome. there is settled we could we could go do. a show there where the Colts play we. could is it the Colts what do they play. soccer yeah but they came from Baltimore. who them became the Ravens it's just so. weird everyone's moving all over the. place who's the great leader of um uh. the now Victor um the great leader yeah. who is the great leader Kim Jong Victor.

uh I don't know their coach no no he's. like their Captain but yeah he's a. player I don't know Ron arest Victor. what is this right now Victor bour yes. Victor bour is now anyway we're goingon. to list him too once I remember his last. name because he's vict player uh if you. want to know well I already said that if. you want to get in touch with us you can. go to stuff you should know. and you will find all of our Social. Links there and you can always send us. an email to stuff podcast.

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