A dome idea

 Buckminster Fuller developed and tested his first prototype geodesic domes during his summer sessions at Black Mountain College in North Carolina in 1948 and 1949. The first dome of 1948 lacked structural integrity and failed to rise, collapsing into a heap that Fuller and his students humorously nicknamed the "Supine Dome.” Fuller returned in the summer of 1949 with a sturdier design using aircraft tubing and internal cables. The photo shown here documents the BMC community after successfully erecting the Autonomous Dwelling Facility prototype, which was strong enough to support weight and paved the way for Fuller’s 1954 geodesic dome patent.

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Hazel Larsen Archer, Construction of the Geodesic Dome, 1949. Gelatin silver print.  Collection of Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center.

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