Geodesic Sphere Display
Rob Lusher
I have a potential client who wishes to make a 7 metre (23 feet) diameter
3v alternate complete sphere as a display model. The proposed structure
would need to be made of 25mm (1 inch) or approximate diameter tubular
aluminium with a simple and elegant connection system, (not squashed ends
and bolts).
I am aware of the "Envisioneering" <http://www.ottawa.net/~envision/> type
of space frame connectors and of various types of dome aviary connector
systems. Those that I have seen do not seem to be suited to larger
diameter struts however and involve precision engineered hub design.
Does anyone know of a simple, elegant and not exorbitantly expensive system
which might suit my purposes. Three types of connector would be needed for
the sphere and I am thinking in terms of a lightweight node that the struts
will slide into and be held by a cotter pin or snap-on arrangement. Does
such a product already exist or are there specifications or ideas on such a
system.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Rob Lusher
The Dome Company <dom...@wr.com.au> http://www.wr.com.au/domeco
47 Edward St.
Sylvania Heights
Sydney, NSW 2224
Australia Phone/Fax: (02) 95226283
Joe S. Moore
Rob,
Check out:
Aluminum Geodesic Spheres (AGS)[Florida, USA]
305-625-9436
Conservatek, Inc [Texas, USA]
http://www.conservatek.com
Structural Visions [Oregon, USA]
http://www2.geodesicdomestructures.com/GDS/
Temcor [California, USA]
http://www.temcor.com
****************************************
* Joe S. Moore
* Independent Buckminster Fuller Scholar
* joem...@mail.cruzio.com
* Buckminster Fuller Virtual Institute
* http://www.cruzio.com/~joemoore/
****************************************
----------
> From: Rob Lusher <dom...@WR.COM.AU>
> To: GEOD...@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
> Subject: Geodesic Sphere Display
> Date: Wednesday, July 16, 1997 12:48 AM
> .-
DeVarco
Porcelainia - Patterned Jewels of Ordered Chaos
You are invited to visit a brand new web site celebrating the scientific
artistry of porcelain artist, Bobby Jaber. Jaber, a fine artist, has
taught
high school chemistry and physics for more than 25 years and has been
greatly
influenced by Buckminster Fuller's synergetic geometry. His "Octahedral
Porcelain Process" blends elements of both the sciences and the arts in a
unique approach to sculpting spherical porcelain vessels. This process
combines the exactitude of measurement, the mathematics of the sphere and
exercises in geometry with the aesthetics of embedded design. In Bobby's
unique "artist's laboratory" the final work in each of its transitional
stages is carefully logged and measured. New tools which conform to the
needs of spherical vessels are continually being designed and constructed
as
the artist/craftsman explores this new realm of artistic alchemy.
Jaber's art draws its inspiration from his Arabic heritage. His artworks
bring together in three dimensions the same symmetrical elements that
define
the beautiful works of Islamic sacred art. These interlaced designs embody
an
unbroken rhythm, regularity and interwovenness that only such abstract
forms
can bring to the viewer. Jaber's finished vessels introduce curvature to
the
embedded designs, at once both natural and abstract, bringing a new
dimension to the geometric art experience. Jaber's designs, however,
unlike
traditional Islamic design, also combine both chaos and order in a
symmetrically unified "whole."
Jaber's approach to design in porcelain also draws from the works of other
artist/scientists in history, most notably Buckminster Fuller, who
explored
the geometry of energy systems in his "synergetic geometry" and was best
known as the inventor of the geodesic dome. As he began to bring Bucky's
approach from synergetics into his efforts to divide the sphere, define
the
planes of truncation of polyhedra to form modules and to recombine the
modules into new forms, the more beautiful and harmonious the resulting
designs have become. Jaber's Octahedral Porcelain Process has evolved to
include forms that incorporate basic design elements Fuller championed,
elements such as such as symmetry, frequency growth, sphere packing, and
beautiful combinations of the tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron and
cuboctahedron (vector equilibrium). The embedded geometric design
patterns
of these unique porcelain vessels embody many of Fuller's elaborations of
synergetics, a geometric system based on his attempts to understand
"Nature's
Design."
Home Page: http://www.west.net/~bjaber
Three special highlights of Bobby Jaber's Digital Porfolio are:
The Buckminster Fuller Presentation Series
This series is a limited edition of six porcelain versions of the carbon
60
molecule. Four of the pieces were presented to each of the discoverers of
buckminsterfullerene (Nobel Laureates, Kroto, Smalley and Curl) and Ed
Applewhite, Fuller's colleague and collaborator on the two volumes of
Synergetics. Each piece is featured on its own page with background
information on its recipient.
http://www.west.net/~bjaber/Presenser.html
Symmetric Work - Geometrica
Geometrica is an extended series of open latticework pieces drawing from
the
geometries of Buckminster Fuller.
http://www.west.net/~bjaber/SymmWk.html
New Work - The "Hellas Series" and "Alexandria Series"
These two brand new series are in process. Each piece honors and bears
the
name of a mathematician, philosopher or astronomer of the ancient world.
http://www.west.net/~bjaber/Hellas.html
http://www.west.net/~bjaber/Alex.html
Enjoy!!
Bonnie Goldstein DeVarco
dev...@pptnet.com
da...@monitor.net
At 12:08 PM -0800 7/22/97, DeVarco wrote:
>Porcelainia - Patterned Jewels of Ordered Chaos
Bonnie- this is a beautiful Web site; thanks for the notice. (i wish i
could see and feel a different one of his pieces every few days..maybe we
will soon in virtual reality anyway?!).
I assume you wrote the text (quoted in your notice) for his site? Its a
very nice description. (There is a typo you may want to correct if this is
the same as the text on his site), ie, the repitition of "such as" in the
following:
>Jaber's Octahedral Porcelain Process has evolved to
>>include forms that incorporate basic design elements Fuller championed,
>>elements such as such as symmetry,
btw: who's the site manager? the home page looks like it may be the same
person as does your Design Science Consortium?
>
>Home Page: http://www.west.net/~bjaber
--danu