“Domes are the most difficult structures to build – triangular structures are the most stable” Dr Dante Bins (architect “Shimuzu Megacity Pyramid”)

 

A double-skinned DOME would make no practical sense. 

Domes are mostly employed as architectural “crowns” designed to embellish churches and other prestigious buildings, or as housings for astronomical telescopes, but almost never as buildings per se.  Domed structures like Houston’s Astrodome or London’s Millennium Dome, are basically rigid tents designed to shelter a large public space such as an arena or auditorium.  

Because people are used to seeing “domed cities” in Sci-Fi art, books, and movies, it tends to be assumed that a “city within a building” will be a bunch of skyscrapers within a transparent dome  

A recurring theme in sci-fiction art is the “City of the future” depicted as a vast TRANSPARENT DOME enclosing a city of “gleaming spires”.  But why would you enclose a city within a giant dome unless the air outside was poisonous or the climate too extreme..?  And, if that were the case, surely an underground city would make more sense?  Despite the absurdity, this silly idea won’t go away so easily….especially in the minds of mega-rich Arab oil potentates…   

 

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DOMEs THAT MADE THEIR MARK ON HISTORY

Some of the most famous examples of domed roofs, in order of antiquity…

• The Pantheon, Rome (1900 years)
• Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (1500 years)
• St Peters, Rome (500 years)
• Taj Mahal, Agra (400 years)
• St Pauls Cathedral, London (300 years)
• The Capitol, Washington DC (150 years)

 

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THE MUCH BIGGER ONE THAT GOT AWAY…