Walking away from my geodesic sphere in 1980 and knowing I may newer return has not changed anything about my belief in the concept of a human habitat based on a geodesic sphere and wanting to see it realized.

1997

This time I took the design of the concept further considering what was to be the final result, yet as it turned out still not far enough. Also I have reluctantly convinced myself to build the sphere as a single, welded together unit reasoning the screwed together version will come later. A decision I have never become at peace with and often questioned until finally several months into the project I have changed course from a single welded unit to an assembly held together with threaded fasteners.
The 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons of the 1980 “Bucky ball” are further divided into 180 triangles the whole consisting of 270 tubes of 1 1/2” diameter in 3 different lengths and 92 rather elaborate welded up joints in 3 different configurations. All made of steel as are the sub frames for the first and the second floors, the spiral stairways connecting the floors and the base/foundation of the sphere. I have also built the 180 cover panels of 2 different sizes that I have foamed from 2 component polyurethane foam resin into molds inside which I have first placed a wood perimeter frame that would hold a neoprene foam rubber gasket intended to seal the panels against the tubes and joints of the geodesic sphere frame.
And that put an end to my second go at the geodesic sphere in the winter of 2000/2001. Although I have compensated for its shrinkage, the 3” thick polyurethane foam of the triangular panels has shrunk slightly more then I have anticipated based on the trial panels that I have built, the sides of the triangles became concave and didn’t seal properly against the tubes of the frame. I was already deep in a debt at that time, still some ways to go and after almost 3 years of continuous work burned out and last my momentum. During the time since I have stopped the work on the geodesic sphere I have concluded the joint and tube assembly design to be overly complex yet not sophisticated and versatile enough.
In the winter of 2013 – 2014 I have created the sphere of OZ.