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The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

rigsomelight.com

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Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#71

Post by sp332 »

finnh wrote: post #54

If you want to live in a city, it's not the cost of the house that kills you: it's the dirt. In Seattle, where I live, my property tax statement tells me that my (large, nice) house is worth roughly half as much as the land it sits on. Given that these domes don't float, you still need a place to put 'em. If your goal is to opt out of the cost of housing - an evil which this blog post expounds upon at length - your f…

Knowing that you don't need a big house gives you a lot more flexibility in choosing where to put it.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#72

Post by brucehauman »

VikingCoder wrote: post #48

Can we get a PDF that's 164 pages long, that has each part on its own page that we could print on 8.5x11 paper (centering it, since you used 4x8 sheets)? Then we could print out own version of what you created, and use some kind of fastener (tape? glue?) to put it together...

Actually I think this is a wonderful idea.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#73

Post by gamegoblin »

finnh wrote: post #63
mattjaynes wrote: post #47

This is awesome. I especially love his focus on reducing the complex down to the very simple. He put a lot of work into simplifying the design and the payoff was huge - only 3 shapes make up the whole thing! From the article: "The three shapes we derived above amount to a remarkable simplification in fabrication and construction. We have decimated the complexity of the dome." "Decimated" is the perfect word for it. H…

Actually, "decimated" is not the perfect word for it. He's done much better than mere decimation! (Decimated means "reduced by 1/10th" ... not, as is popularly believed, "reduced to 1/10th")

While that is the origin of the word, to pretend it still only means that is pretty delusional.

Words change meaning based on usage.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#75

Post by erikig »

I enjoyed his write-up, his discussions on motivations, as well as the pictures of his early attempts.

I'm a big fan of thinking outside the box (pun intended).

Somewhat related to his thoughts on home structures is the shipping container home movement that has been gradually picking up steam. Insulated shipping containers make great home frames and it would be nice to see similar grassroots discussions on the challenges of setting them up as well as success stories.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#76

Post by finnh »

gamegoblin wrote: post #73
finnh wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, "decimated" is not the perfect word for it. He's done much better than mere decimation! (Decimated means "reduced by 1/10th" ... not, as is popularly believed, "reduced to 1/10th")

While that is the origin of the word, to pretend it still only means that is pretty delusional. Words change meaning based on usage.

sure, I'm being pedantic. But, if it's called out as "the perfect word" I assume the OP would want to know (just like I welcomed the correction when I first learned it).

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#78

Post by jquery »

RyJones wrote: post #65
jquery wrote: post #56

The efficient-home problem has already been solved. We call them manufactured homes. They're cheap, and are actually up-to-code for long-term living.

they're cheap to acquire, but long-term, not so good. They're also very flimsy, so everything sort-of goes at once. Yes, you can spend a lot more on one and get nicer finishes, but the end state is the floor sags and none of the doors shut.

It depends on what you mean by long-term and probably how well you take care of it. Growing up, I lived in one for years with no issues. So did my best friend, for even longer (at least a decade, no issues with sagging or warping). And this was in the rainy, wet Pacific Northwest.

I dare say they are better built than the flimsy plastic tent we saw linked in the OP.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#79

Post by dsizzle »

brucehauman wrote: post #61
finnh wrote: post #54

If you want to live in a city, it's not the cost of the house that kills you: it's the dirt. In Seattle, where I live, my property tax statement tells me that my (large, nice) house is worth roughly half as much as the land it sits on. Given that these domes don't float, you still need a place to put 'em. If your goal is to opt out of the cost of housing - an evil which this blog post expounds upon at length - your f…

I agree with your statement whole heartedly. There are trade-offs to everything. I hope that you don't think I am claiming to have solved the housing issue. I am simply offering an "alternative" alternative structure. But there is a place for them and it works for me. Please see the tiny housing / simplification movement for discussion about the trade offs of relocating and living simply. It's not for everyone.

So can you tell us what you did for the land/property part? Your Twitter profile says Asheville. How far is this from the city? Were there zoning issues?

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#80

Post by bargl »

outworlder wrote: post #70
finnh wrote: post #54

If you want to live in a city, it's not the cost of the house that kills you: it's the dirt. In Seattle, where I live, my property tax statement tells me that my (large, nice) house is worth roughly half as much as the land it sits on. Given that these domes don't float, you still need a place to put 'em. If your goal is to opt out of the cost of housing - an evil which this blog post expounds upon at length - your f…

True, to an extent. But considering that some people still live in unkempt shacks, there is some room for improvement. Mass producing the dome parts seem like a nice proposition. Might not even be for housing at first but as an addon for a existing house. Say you wanted to clear your garage and store your stuff somewhere else in the property. Maybe for government-sponsored housing programs. Or, I don't know, Africa?…

Africa would be an awesome idea, but you'd have to do a lot of work with the locals to get them to see this as a viable shelter.

I worked on a project that tried to bring new types of homes to Haiti. This was a HUGE problem because if the locals don't like it (no matter how cool) your idea won't take off.

The fact is that most Haitians thought that wood and corrugated metal were what a "house" was (assuming you couldn't afford a concrete home).

This isn't only African's. You could look at forward swept wings in a similar manner (I'm oversimplifying some of the technical difficulties there though).

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