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| The DOME is a home who's time has come again .... .. Remember that igloos and yurts have housed ancient and modern peoples. .. Church domes help free the spirits of people. .. The sky's dome is spacious and familiar. .. So, why is it so strange that this tried-and-true form is beckoning us still ??? |
| There's a dome that can speak to you !! |
| What are DOMES lacking compared to other home types? .. Rot. .. Termites. .. Squirrels and Rats in the walls. .. High storm risks. .. High fire risks. .. High heating/cooling costs. .. High maintenance costs. .. High taxes. .. High home-insurance premiums. .. ( quite a nice list to be free of !!!) |
| More Questions -and- My Answers Q. But, what about some straight, flat walls - I need a straight wall for Aunt Annie's armoire -and- a flat wall for Great Grandpa Gibson's portrait !! A. No problem - you can have all the straight, flat internal walls that you want. BUT, think of those interesting spaces created by those fantastically curving outside walls !!! Q. But, what about bumping my head on those curving outside walls ?? A. This is where good design gives you some great rewards. First, the radius of curvature is carefully considered, placement of furniture is important and designated functionality for the smaller spaces on the outside walls must be well thought out. And the results?? Exciting spatial relationships - not the predictable spaces of square or rectangular rooms. Also, you can have architecture reminiscent of whatever period that you may like - ultra-modern, traditional, unorthodox, or (my favorite) echos of older cultures. All without the annoying and disruptive need for roof supports and other load-bearing structures in the most awkward places. You are much freer to design your floor space as you want it !!!!! Q. But, what about building permits ?? A. You've just hit upon a problem - most permiting agencies haven't been educated about this type of construction yet. Monolithic Constructors and other builders are gathering a base of information that they will share as to how to go about getting your building permits. Q. But, what about getting my neighbors to accept my plans ?? A. More problems - Zone and Deed restrictions and Neighborhood Associations can be insurmountable with their craving for homogeneity !!! Z&D restrictions are pretty much a stone wall - unless you've got the means and the will to pursue legal action. If the education of your neighbors and a carefully considered, neighborhood-compatible dome design doesn't carry the day, you'll just have to demonstrate your own flexibilty - go to a more open-minded area to build your dome. Outside urban areas, you'll have very little problem getting your building plans OK'd. Q. So why do I want to live in a dome ?? A. The reasons might make a little more sense if I give you some background info. Living in the South, I am a witness to (and reluctant participant in) the constant maintenance that homeowners must perform in order to protect their homes here. There is a constant assault of invasions by fireants, cockroaches and termites. I, personally, don't like living in the field of poison that is required to keep them at bay. Additionally, I really don't care for mice or rats living in the walls. Mother Nature provides other assaults ---- she rots wood, she creates hurricanes, tornados and floods, she generates great temperature extremes (here in the South, it's usually HEAT). And then there is always the danger of fire !!! We pay a great deal for our resource-wasteful housing --- building costs, insurance costs, tax assesments, maintenance costs, climate-control devices. What a wasteful drain on our own financial resources just to maintain our individual senses of well-being, comfort and social-standing. Of course, the Earth, itself, has to constantly give up more than our individual fairshares of its resources to support these extravagant housing standards. This is particularly critical, because so few of us even bother to consider how destructively we, in the aggregate, are taking from the Earth's resources and giving nothing back. (Yes, I'm a "greenie" - finally coming out of my closet.) I feel that it is extremely important to rethink our needs for comfortable homes - especially, now that it is so obvious that there are many looming problems in water, power and heating fuel supplies. This includes gasoline supplies, but that's another story. But back to more immediate reasons for living in a dome ..... Years ago I went on several spelunking (cave-crawling) expeditions. I was amazed at how cool the subsurface of the earth is, even on a 100° day. I felt that this characteristic should somehow be taken advantage of - this is better than artifical air-conditioning !! Another important experience that I had was participating in the building and sailing of a ferro-cement sailboat. The ruggedness and strength of the substance really impressed me. At that point in time I decided that I someday wanted to have a "ferro-cement" house. I discovered that Monolithic Domes (located in Italy, Texas) has developed a concept that exactly fits and solidifies my ideas. And so here I am - quite eagerly getting all my plans together - hopefully we will start building the dome by next Spring, 2008. |