Construction of a model of an icosahedral geodesic dome replicating the dome of the Dalí Museum in Figueres

Abstract

Domes of different types have been made throughout human history but reticular domes are very recent. The year 2023 marked the centenary of the construction in the city of Jena, Germany, of what may be considered the world’s first reticular geodesic dome by the engineer Walther Bauersfeld. Years later, the American visionary Buckminster Fuller popularized the construction of geodesic domes and became well known for them, but the dome of the Dalí Museum was designed and built by an architect from Calasparra (Murcia Province, Spain), Emilio Pérez Piñero. Today this dome is a symbol of Figueres, forming an inseparable part of the city. The purpose of this article is to review some historical milestones in the development of geodesic domes, to present a brief introduction to the mathematical and graphical calculations for designing them, and to summarize as succinctly as possible the necessary calculations allowing anyone with a minimum knowledge of mathematics and geometry to build a model geodesic dome similar to that of the Dalí Museum.