Welcome!
I greet you in the Love and in the Light of the One Infinite Creator.
I am Infinity. I'm a newbie and I simply wanted to share my dream of building a Geodesic Biodome Nursery with the community in the hope that it may spark interest/inspire others.
Disclaimer: My love of domes has gone way past what one would consider a passion. It's become an obsession. An illness perhaps. A large portion of my dreams are dedicated to dome building. It has literally consumed me. In other words, I'm a dome nut! So please keep that in mind while reading.
What is a Geodesic Dome?
A Geodesic Dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure based on a geodesic polyhedron. In simple terms, imagine 3/4 of a ball structure made from lots of triangles. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the stress evenly throughout the structure, making domes able to withstand very strong forces. I'm building what's called a 4v or 4 frequency dome. It's made up of many triangles which form either Hexagons or Pentagons. Similar to a Soccer ball. I'm told these shapes have some serious power due to their sacred geometry.
What exactly am I building?
In short, my dream is to build a botanical sanctuary in my backyard. I'm constructing a large 5m diameter Geodesic Biodome Nursery to house my private Herbarium, which is simply a collection of special plants/specimens. I'm also constructing a smaller 3m diameter Acoustic Meditation Dome as a sacred sanctuary/chill space. Along the perimeter of my yard will be 28m2 of raised garden beds with shade trellises which will be home to my speciality Ethnobotanical Garden. I can't forget to mention the water features. There are 2 of those. One water sphere inside the large dome acting as its heart and a monolithic one that will sit in a raised pond.
What challenges have I faced so far?
I had to become a Mathematician, Structural Engineer and Carpenter overnight. I also had to rethink my dome design. In Brisbane, we get extreme UV all year round, which equals excessive heat. It can be deadly when you're growing very fragile species of plants that require very specific ranges of heat and humidity to thrive. I've lost all my plants in my garden twice in the last year. A standard dome would become a solar oven in minutes. So with this in mind, I had to tweak my dome plans in every conceivable way so that it would provide optimum internal conditions in a fairly harsh Australian environment. This is where a good solar powered ventilation system comes into play and panels that automatically open and close.
Next steps?
As soon I finish my formal plans, I'm off to have a chat with each of my neighbours. In the interest of good relations, my intention is to show them my plans and get an immediate idea if anyone is not keen on having a futuristic space ship in the property next to them. Once I get the neighbours on board, I need to find loopholes in the development approval process so that I don't have to get development approval. That thing is a nightmare all on its own.
Where to from here?
Spending vast amounts of slave credits. That's always the hardest part after the planning. The spending. I need to acquire materials and expensive tools. I plan to lay the foundations in May and hope to have to have the major works done by June. I was thinking I might show the process and progress of the Geodesic Biodome Construction on here if anyone is interested. Also if anyone out there has built a Geodesic Biodome, I would absolutely love to come visit you at the mental asylum to share dome knowledge. I'll even sneak in some hubs and struts for you so you can get your Geodesic on!
Questions?
So, that's my dream of building a Geodesic Dome. If it all works out I might even start a small company that makes DIY kits. If you have any questions, comments or awesome ideas - please send them through to me. I always love having a chat. Hopefully I've sparked an interest in someone out there. That's it for now. Until next time my friends…
Infinite Love and Light
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