Dwelling Machine Prototypes
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Brainstorming on Buckyworks: The Anthology
This was a book proposal I put out after J. Baldwin's BuckyWorks was successfully published by John Wiley & Sons. Applewhite was skeptical that it'd fly as an anthology. He was right. |
Garden of Eden Prototypes |
In BuckyWorks (© 1996 John Wiley & Sons), author J. Baldwin recounts his work with the Pillowdome (pg. 168-ff). His leak-proof prototype uses a frame made from recycled aluminium water pipe (from the Starnet International Corporation) and argon gas filled pillows made of Dupont's fluoropolymer resin, Tefzel® (chemically similar to Teflon®).
Since Tefzel® allows full-spectrum sunlight to penetrate the dome's interior, living and gardening areas may be creatively integrated. Excessive humidity and overheating within these "Garden of Eden" prototypes remains a challenge however -- Jay points to the Climatron in the Missouri Botanical Garden as a good approximation of what he'd like to achieve as an affordable living space option -- but affordability would entail greater energy efficiency. He speculates that the "chilling machine" effect, a result of airflow patterns arising in some dome designs, might help keep the interior comfortable (e.g. see Fig 8-8, page 160). For more info on the PillowDome, see:
Online reviews of J. Baldwin's BuckyWorks:
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some pictures from stash at http://www.buckminster.info/Pics/Icosahedra/ Synergetics on the Web |