Dean's Geodesic Dome and N-gon Pyramid Maker

thingiverse

In collaboration with Crawford School of Art and Design, we're producing parts for Dean O'Connor, a final year student, to use in his geodesic dome project. This structure, made from flat triangular shapes, explores the theme of unfulfilled utopian architectural promises by intentionally incorporating imperfections from 3D printing processes. These include curling edges, build platform texture, and residual colors. The dome's transparency allows for internal projection of colors or images onto its surface. To create this unique piece, we used a Thing-o-matic printer, which required approximately 13 hours to print all the parts. Scripts are available to make individual triangles, snap-and-fold pieces, and n-gon pyramids, which can be combined to form geodesic domes or other shapes. The file "2012_05_25-Deans_dome_pentagon_test-3.scad" offers an updated version for easy customization of the triangles' sizes and other variables. Assembling the dome involves printing 10 equilateral triangles and 30 isosceles triangles, cleaning up the printed parts, forming pentagonal pyramids with the isosceles triangles, and bonding them together to create the dome shape. The equilateral triangles fill in any remaining gaps. Finally, use acetone or glue to ensure a strong and well-bonded structure, ready for its intended purpose of showcasing unfulfilled utopian architectural promises.