The Hidden History of the Geodesic Dome - Part 5: The Re-Discovery at Black Mountain College

5/5 The Hidden History of the Geodesic Dome

Part 5: The Re-Discovery of the Geodesic Dome at Black Mountain College" describes the reasons that Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina was the perfect incubator of new ideas. Black Mountain College received lasting fame through the work of Josef and Anni Albers, who were the former teachers of the Bauhaus School in Weimar Germany and were life-long friends of Walter Gropius.

Walter Gropius was on the Advisory Board of Black Mountain College, and was the only architect in the United States that had actually seen the geodesic dome built by Walther Bauerfeld on the rooftop of the Zeiss factory in Jena Germany in 1924 and was associated with Buckminster Fuller in 1948.

Through his association with Bauersfeld, Walter Gropius could have provided the inspiration to Buckminster Fuller to develop his version of the Geodesic Dome at Black Mountain College in 1948. But Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome is markedly different from the geodesic dome of Walther Bauersfeld, and these differences are fully described in this video.

After watching this video, you will be one of the few people that will understand the difference between the "Class 1" geodesic dome of Walther Bauersfeld, and the "Class 2" geodesic dome of Buckminster Fuller. This is Part 5 and the final instalment of this video series. I hope you find these videos to be enjoyable.

Music:

Introduction: Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copeland

Ending: Enigma Variations - Variation IX (Adagio) "Nimrod", by Edward Elgar.