Truncated Icosahedron Model

Twentieth-century visionary and inventor Buckminster Fuller arrived at Black Mountain College’s 1948 summer institute to assume his first-ever teaching appointment—and immediately became a student favorite. The college’s collaborative environment was an ideal laboratory for testing the notion of using geodesic domes as energy-efficient, affordable housing. Based on the principles of spherical geometry, geodesic domes distribute stress through interlocking triangular elements, producing a lightweight but durable structure. Fuller’s first dome failed and fell, earning the moniker of “the supine dome.” Undeterred, the Massachusetts native successfully tried again the following summer. This paper model of a truncated icosahedron reveals Fuller’s ingenious strategy.