Triangoli, Icosaedri e Cupole Geodetiche

TL;DR

This paper reviews the history, geometric properties, and construction methods of geodesic domes, highlighting their scientific applications and recent architectural interest.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of geodesic domes' geometric features, historical development, and construction techniques, connecting past research with modern applications.

Findings

Geodesic domes have diverse applications in science and architecture.

Their geometric properties are well-studied and documented.

Construction methods for geodesic domes are summarized and analyzed.

Abstract

Geodesic domes, convex polyhedrons with almost spherical shape or parts of them, were the subject of great attention in the twenty years between the mid-1950s and the 1970s, especially thanks to Richard Buckminster Fuller. After a building boom, mostly in the United States, their construction interest declined but their geometric characteristics, studied by various mathematicians, have unexpectedly found applications in other fields of science (Biology, Chemistry) since the mid-1950s and are still underlying models, the subject of current research. Even in the engineering-architectural field, with the revived interest in "large" reticular structures, they are analyzed and sometimes taken as inspiration. In this article, after summarizing the history of their conception and the various applications in science, we describe their main geometric characteristics and the geometric procedures most used for their construction.