Architect, engineer and inventor Buckminster Fuller developed the world’s most infamous dome structure while searching for the most efficient housing solution possible during the 1940s. The dome structure finds the shortest paths between two points on a sphere, and its structure is modular by nature and practically infinitely scalable. That makes it an ideal basis for all sorts of projects, from interactive art installations and temporary theaters to prefab homes and gigantic greenhouses.

Dome of Visions Greenhouse by Metsä Wood

Built by Finnish company Metsä Wood and designed by Atelier Kristoffer Tejlgaard, the Dome of Visions uses laminated lumber to create a massive greenhouse, avoiding the need for welded brackets. “Those who enter inside are embraced with the warmth of a calm summer day, the smell from countless rosemary bushes, busy bumblebees and a 100 year old olive tree snuggling, sheltered from the spring-fresh wind outside,” says the designer. “Dome of Visions hosts debates on the future of sustainable and environmentally sound housing.”

Nature House in Northern Norway: Dome Encloses a Cob Home

How do you grow food almost year-round in one of the world’s harshest climates? The Hjertefølger family discovered a way to make it work on the island of Sandhornøya in northern Norway, within the Arctic Circle, by covering their homemade cob house with a 25-foot-high dome. Within its walls are a solar-powered five-bedroom home an dan irrigated garden that stretches their growing season by a full five months.

Prefab ‘SmartDome’ Home

Prefab dome homes are certainly nothing new. Though the craze to build them has died down a bit since the 1970s and ‘80s, they still make for striking structures, and renewed interest in modularity has increased their popularity again. These prefab domes by Slovenian-based Smartdome can be placed just about anywhere, featuring adjustable steel legs to accommodate uneven terrain.

Robotic Solar-Powered Dome Robot

‘Walking Pod,’ a giant robotic geodesic dome powered by two commercial dishwasher engines, made its debut at San Francisco’s Maker Faire and, later, the Burning Man festival in 2013. Created over a period of three months by welder Scott Parenteau, the design aims to be a “mutated version” of Theo Janssen’s StrandBeest. It requires just 800 watts of power to run at its top speed of 0.2 miles per hour, getting most of it from two 12-volt batteries hooked up to an inverter.

Geodesic Dome Tent by North Face

Not only does The North Face’s new dome tent provide six feet of headroom inside, using space efficiently, its shape gives it the ability to withstand winds of up to 60mph since the force is spread evenly across its structure. While the company has had ‘dome tents’ for a while now, these two new models are much rounder than previous designs, offering considerably more space. Unfortunately, it’s only available in Japan.

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Fuller House 15 Geodesic Dome Creations Pay Tribute To Buckys Classic

As robotic cars take to the streets, designers are beginning to see possibilities for urban mobility that go beyond human and cargo transport. What if plants, for instance, could be moved around automatically, seeking out sun, filtering dirty air and providing fresh greens within cities?

Inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes and Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, the Interactive Architecture Lab at the University College London has designed and built Hortum Machina B (the last letter short for Bucky).

An aluminum core houses the technology’s robotics, monitoring plants on the periphery and changing rotation and position to accommodate their needs. On-board water storage supplies moisture for growth while the ball stays in motion.

This novel mobile ecosystem is solar-powered, so its search for sunlight fuels not only the plants on board but the system itself. With efficient water reclamation, the garden could stay on the move indefinitely.

The internal computer system not only keeps the plants healthy but serve as part of a larger set of smart-city initiatives. For instance, sensors can detect and seek out areas with poor air quality, letting the plants provide filtration on demand.

The sphere could also roll itself through urban food deserts, allowing people to pick edibles as it winds its way through a city. Of course, this shape may not be the most efficient manifestation of the idea, but as a conceptual model could inspire similar and more sustainable typologies.

Presumably, in a future world of autonomous vehicles, there will be both mechanisms and space to accommodate driverless gardens as well as cars. Freed-up streets could be used to transport all kinds of things, not just conventional goods and people but also micro-ecosystems and other stuff we have yet to think of. For now the, the robotic garden has been tested in London and remains prototype. It might not be as productive per square foot of space as many new urban farm designs, but perhaps it makes up in novelty and mobility what it lacks in terms of strict productivity.

Could a low-cost, lightweight geodesic dome made from umbrellas, garbage bags and a space blanket provide a real life-saving solution for people forced to sleep on the streets? ‘Earth Lander’ reclaims common materials in totally unexpected ways for a visual result that looks just as its name suggests, and it’s thermally efficient, providing a warm space that’s also resistant to water and wind.

Umbrella frames were altered to make them more structurally secure, and combined with waterproof umbrella fabric to create the outer structure. Air-filled garbage bags, cellulose wool and a space blanket provide insulation.

The umbrellas were assembled to create a geodesic dome that Bucky Fuller would be proud of. The transparent trash bags act as inflatable windows so the inhabitant can peer outside, and the octagonal door is secured with ties.

It’s an intriguing idea that could help save the lives of countless homeless people who die from exposure each year during the harsh winter months, and keep them dry in other seasons. Check out 14 more innovative ideas for homeless housing, from similar short-term survival shelters to long-term transitional living spaces.

Derived from crystal structure of diamonds and geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller, these all-weather structures are astonishingly strong but incredibly light at the same time.

Created by Heimplanet, the Maverick grew out of a previous iteration, The Cave, which was similarly structured, eschewing solid poles in favor of an impressive custom airbeam system.

Made to withstand winds of over 100 miles per hour, each section of the all-weather Maverick can be separated from the next chamber when deployed. As a result, the entire structure can be inflated at once but a failure in one segment does not cause the deflation of the whole.

More about the materials: “The airbeams are built with a resistant double-layer construction: an extra airtight TPU (thermoplastic urethane) bladder keeps the air inside for a long time. An outer jacket made of a high-tenacity polyester fabric ensures extra stability, protection and durability.”