Geodesic Sphere

BuckminsterFuller championed the use of spheres and domes for construction of dwellings and other structures. He said that those shapes have several benefits over the rectangular building shapes commonly in use:

• The shape of a sphere minimizes the amount of surface area for the enclosed volume. This minimizes the weight and cost of the materials necessary to construct it.

• Minimizing surface area also minimizes the amount of heat exchange between the inside and outside.

• Construction of a sphere/dome from uniform pieces is simpler and more efficient than constructions that have different kinds of pieces (corners, sides, etc.)

• A dome is very stable and sturdy. It handles wind and rain well. Modern tents are modeled on this principle. Also Antarctic base stations are geodesic to handle the high winds.

• When the sun heats the surface of a dome or sphere, it causes air to rise upward along the surface. Thus, the sun alone can drive a ventilation system for the inside of the structure, drawing air out from the bottom and in from the top.

• Due to all of the above, large spheres are warmer on the inside than on the outside. Since the construction of spheres has no scaling limits, a sphere a half-mile wide is actually lighter than air. So large GeodesicSpheres are the way to build FloatingCities.

But:

• Most factories/mills that produce "uniform pieces" produce rectangular pieces. Cutting them to shape wastes both time and materials. Could that be solved by retooling?

• Geodesic spheres are impossible to expand. I had an idea for a hemispherical city built like an onion.

No they're not. Build overlapping domes and make clusters:

Or try TruncatedOctahedrons.

Or use zomes:

• In small geodesic spheres, the tightly curved walls lead to wasted space. (Think of a rectangular couch against a curved wall.) Ah, but why is your couch rectangular?

• It's hard to seal the angled joints, which leads to leaks.

• The spherical shape distributes sound efficiently. If one person snores, they wake everyone else. Good for an auditorium then. And I'd want InternalWall?s between bedrooms anyway.

• The spherical shape distributes light efficiently. If someone woken by the snorer turns on a reading lamp, the whole dome lights up. Ever heard of DarkCurtain?s?

Therefore,

• Put the dome inside your house for its structural strength as a central dining/meeting/observatory/greenhouse/atrium room. Hang the other rooms on it.

(Some of these disadvantages come from StewartBrand's HowBuildingsLearn, others from experience.)