Fuller

[Dick Fischbeck]

This a quote from Orwell which is something that Fuller might have said in a different way. I understand here on geodesic help we mostly talk about chord factors but some of you might think more about the real world implications of domes.

"Suppose it is granted that a plongeur's work is more or less useless. Then the question follows, Why does anyone want him to go on working? I am trying to go beyond the immediate economic cause, and to consider what pleasure it can give anyone to think of men swabbing dishes for life. For there is no doubt that people — comfortably situated people — do find a pleasure in such thoughts. A slave, Marcus Gato said, should be working when he is not sleeping. It does not matter whether his work is needed or not, he must work, because work in itself is good — for slaves, at least. This sentiment still survives, and it has piled up mountains of useless drudgery.

I believe that this instinct to perpetuate useless work is, at bottom, simply fear of the mob. The mob (the thought runs) are such low animals that they would be dangerous if they had leisure; it is safer to keep them too busy to think. A rich man who happens to be intellectually honest, if he is questioned about the improvement of working conditions, usually says something like this:

‘We know that poverty is unpleasant; in fact, since it is so remote, we rather enjoy harrowing ourselves with the thought of its unpleasantness. But don't expect us to do anything about it. We are sorry for you lower classes, just as we are sorry for a cat with the mange, but we will fight like devils against any improvement of your condition. We feel that you are much safer as you are. The present state of affairs suits us, and we are not going to take the risk of setting you free, even by an extra hour a day. So, dear brothers, since evidently you must sweat to pay for our trips to Italy, sweat and be damned to you.’

[Yuriy Shevnin]

slaves have no language, they have no home, they work and shoot at the rich at night

пт, 2 дек. 2022 г. в 02:32, Dick Fischbeck <dick.fi...@gmail.com>:

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С Уважением, Юрий

[John Hurt]

Dick,

With the amount of automation in our 21st century factories, the elite no longer needs slaves to work, they only need to control them.  I worked in the Dept of Human Services, and saw able bodied men and women come into the field office to receive their "free" benefits, without working.  This is slavery, today.  Free healthcare, free food, free shelter, but all very substandard.  This "free" system destroys any initiative or confidence that a person can better themselves through good honest work, and destroys the middle class that has to pay for it all, as the elite pay no taxes.   This "free" system demands that slaves not have guns, as the elite is always afraid of a slave revolt.  Giving everyone $1,000 a month so they won't have to work sounds great to some, but it is the doorway to universal slavery. 

The other form of enslavement is the debt/usury system, where a person will have to pay on a mortgage for 30 years just to have shelter.  Add a handful of credit cards, and the man is a debt slave forever.

So what is the answer?

A geodesic dome greenhouse lets a person grow their own food year-round, independent of any slavery system.   it is cheap and efficient.

A moveable geodesic dome pen allows you to raise chickens and ducks, and move the pen each day for fresh grass.  I have also raised a bottle fed calf in a moveable geodesic pen.  These are the tools of food freedom, something that you can have in your own backyard to grow food that may become critical very soon.

But the greatest freedom from slavery that a dome can provide is cheap and efficient shelter, and avoiding the mortgage trap.

Lloyd Kahn said that domes were smart, but not wise, as he said cutting triangles out of OSB or plywood sheaths for covering the dome is not efficient.  How to make an cheap and efficient geodesic dome shelter "today" - now that would be a tribute to Fuller, and a way to for us to stand on Fuller's shoulders.

I think the solution for an efficient dome covering is latex cement brushed over fiberglass mesh.  Here is an interview with Dr. George Nez who developed this technique for covering hyperbolic paraboloid roofs in Ghana:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkE4_vUflRU

Here is his book on Latex Concrete Roofs on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Latex-Concrete-Habitat-Albert-Knott/dp/1412039975

Here is an "instructables" page:  https://www.instructables.com/Latex-Concrete-Roof/

Here is my first latex concrete dome prototype, it has been up for 3 years now:

It is rough, as I did not know how to use a trowel very well.  It is covering a dog feeder.  But it works.  I used Sika latex to hydrate the cement for the darker areas, and cheap white latex paint for hydrating the lighter areas. No water was used. 

I used 3 layers of alkali resistant fiberglass window screen mesh to hold the latex cement.  I used drywall screws and staples to hold the mesh to the dome. 

Here is a customer that first told me about latex cement:  https://www.ziptiedomes.com/customers/lenabach.htm

The other problem with domes is that they are not easy to insulate.  I am working on a double dome design, with two shells locked together, so that insulation could be added between the two layers. 

So what are your ideas for using domes for cheap shelter, and ending slavery/poverty?  I think anyone and everyone should freely contribute their ideas on this forum.  That would be awesome!

John

PS.  I had a fellow visit me about domes from St. Louis, where he worked with the homeless there.  He had a plot of land outside the city where he could build small shelters and give them a garden to till.  He said that the homeless would not stay, but would return to the city to receive free handouts from the mission and churches, and the numerous drug connections there.  Geodesic domes can only help those that want to escape the system.  

I had two former soldiers with PTSD that said they could live on a friends farm for free and hunt and fish, but needed shelter.  I let them make their own hubs from our design and provided technical assistance for free.  All we need are good ideas for people like this.   

If anyone wants to use our hub design for helping the homeless, they are welcome to do so at no charge.   Just send me an email.  https://www.ziptiedomes.com/contactus.htm

Here is a video on using domes for the homeless:

https://youtu.be/NByir8LI1sY

Thanks.  JH

[Dx G]

John raises valid points about domes and housing.  Read Charas, about the urban poor learning to build domes.  

https://pioneerworks.org/store/charas-the-improbable-dome-builders

Sure, having a roof over your head is a big plus, but the dignity of work looms large.

We have some companies working on using crane sized 3D printers to make houses here. I've asked them about domes, since they would be less expensive to put up and use less material than the typical rectilinear house.   Since public opinion and acceptance is not trivial in a new effort like this, making domes this way may have to bide its time.  However, in other countries, there is active work going in making domes with 3D printers using local soil rather than cement.  In plenty of places, adobe and mud brick were use long before we had cement available, even though concrete was used by the Romans. Although 3D printing is somewhat technology intensive, it does have some assets in getting good quality housing up very fast, and can even work all night in the dark.  It's not the only way forward, but bears watching.  One other point we can't forget - a home requires a place to put it. So land issues are not trivial, especially now given the prices have through the roof, even for farm ground going for literally 10 times the price it sold for not long ago. 

   Also consider that domes can be made from building materials that are too small for conventional builders to use, which opens the door to using perfectly good surplus, scrap and even discard/waste materials that currently wind up in landfills.  I think there are opportunities there.

DxG

[Dick Fischbeck]

Hi John- Is the slave talk necessary? Fuller always said a design science revolution is required. He said to change something, design a model that makes the old model obsolete.

Fuller did recognize energy slave, that's for sure.

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[lemondealc]

Thank you for posting this quote Dick. Honestly, Chord factors and Polyhedron Lexicon is NOT why I was interested in Bucky and Geodesic Domes as a teenager, and its not why I build domes now. It is because Geodesic Dome are a new model of building and thinking (about physical forces and even social forces) that I can wrap my head around. The structure itself inspires me. And I love to see how much it inspires others to build and create. 

My own hub design was the result of hours of thinking and being inspired by people like John Hunt (with his ziptie utilization) and websites like domerama. I definitely dig all the thinking and helpful advice on this Google group, but I am much more excited when I see posting pictures of the actual domes that they are building and talking about all the lessons learned. Learning is the Key! Teach a man to Fish and to Build a Dome and the world could be a much better place!

I also appreciate John sharing his thoughts about the current state of affairs. His experience reflects many other stories that I’ve heard from people that actually work inside these so-called Great Society programs that don’t seem to live up to their promises. 

In addition to greenhouses and homes, I think that geodesic domes are just wonderful symbol of freedom and joy. And Christmas is a perfect time to share these with your community. You could:

           Build a Geodesic Manager for your Church!

           Light up a Dome on your Front Yard!

           Build a Warming Sheltering for when the Nights get Cold!

Here is a Geodesic Igloo (It’s a  Ziptie Dome - Thanks John!) that I helped build in Wisconsin two weeks ago. People love it!

For me, Christmas at it’s best is a celebration of the Freedom that Christ brought to the World. Lets all celebrate our freedom and love for each other in this world! Lets continue to inspire our friends and neighbors with these wonderful Geodesic Domes!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Andrew

[Dx G]

Looks like the project hit a speedbump, but the effort continues.  Likely those involved are good builders but not the best at "testing", which usually requires different training, skill set and experience.  One thing I see is that most of the 3D printed walls have diagonal reinforcement in place when the walls are extruded, so one wonders if their use of hollow walls is contributing to the problem...unless its more about the mix.

Does seem to me that making domes this way would be way faster and cheaper than rectilinears, and require far less technology. However, I get the need to factor in public acceptance and opinion, and there is a benefit to showing observers that their 3D homes can look as "nice" as what is already expected.

https://hackaday.com/2023/11/29/iowa-demolishes-its-first-3d-printed-house/

-Dx G