Some time ago I wrote about a free PDF version of the rarely available book ‘How to Build Your Own Living Structures’ by Ken Isaacs. I have another great classic for you to download: the inspiring ‘Domebook 2′, written by Lloyd Kahn and published in 1971. The book deals with “how to construct cardboard geodesic play-domes”. Just like ‘bubbletecture’, domes are great architectural phenomenons you can find everywhere in the world in all kinds of forms, from Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica to La Geode in Paris.
The Domebook contains over 100 pages of beautiful images and illustrations with brief and clear instructions and conversations about inspirations for building shelter out of domes. According to Kahn, “it’s much easier to build, than it is to write about it”. Buckminster Fuller (great vintage website), the driving force behind the dome movement, gave away the original design for his ‘Sun Dome’ in the May 1966 issue of Popular Science.
“Fuller’s geodesic geometry was built with mathematics, wood scraps and staples; a model that Kahn took up with a passion, continuing the meme with Domebooks 1 & 2, building domes around California.”
The people of Let’s Re-Make! have scanned the entire Domebook 2 and made it available for download. Currently we are building a PDF library that will be launched shortly on this blog. Check back soon…
3 Comments
domebook2.pdf link > page not founr 404 error!
Hi, you’re right. I changed links, you can find the publication on Issuu: http://issuu.com/golfstromen/docs/lloyd-kahn-1971. When you’re logged in, you can also download the PDF from there.
very good
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[...] O2 Treehouse in San Diego is a prominent example. Inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s infamous geodesic dome, young interior designer Feider came up with a unique and green take on the conventional treehouse [...]
[...] years has been the editor of Shelter Publications. He has written several books, including Shelter, Domebook, Home Work, and Builders of the Pacific Coast, in which he highlights one-of-a-kind carpenters who [...]
[...] When the aviation museum decided to move to Lelystad in 2003, the unique aluminum dome could hardly be saved from demolition. It was professionally disassembled and stored in 29 containers with the intention to rebuild it later as a church in the the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. But the reconstruction never took place and there is no prospect that it truly is going to happen. The 45 ton heavy shipping containers in which the outer dome, the fittings, the inner shell and the isolation are stored, are still aimlessly waiting for a new owner. All (technical) information can be found on the ‘dome for sale’ website. Interested parties can register on the site to contact the owner and to make a bid. A brief explanation of the plans is required. To learn more about domes, check out the freely available PDF of Lloyd Kahn’s Domebook 2. [...]