RSS FeedApr 10 2009
Icosahedron Polyhedra?-You Had Me At Icos…
The world of small homes is exciting, in part, because there is so much variety. Homeowners are given so many potential choices. With tiny homes it really is possible for people to find a home that fits their specific needs very well. Take for example, the concepts put forth by the people at Easy Domes, built on The Faroe Islands in Denmark.
Easy Domes have a shape that many would find unique. The homes are based on the Icosahedron polyhedra which sounds a lot like an obscure dinosaur, but is really just a type of geometric shape. Think hexagon. What really makes these tiny homes so interesting is that all the sections are pre-made and can be assembled quickly and easily. Assembly is done with good old-fashioned nuts and 
bolts. Yet, the final product certainly doesn’t look old fashioned. Even the transport is done via a container and there is no need for a crane.
Easy Domes have done a very nice job explaining the materials used and the process on their website Easydomes.com. They have three options on their site ranging from “The Tuft,” which is a designed to be a spare time cottage, to the Duo-Domes, which are designed to be homes large enough for a small family. It is possible to link several of the easy homes together to form even larger structures. In fact, there is no theoretical limit to how many could be attached together!
The design and ease of construction are what make these domes so interesting. This design seems to be very flexible as no special skills are needed for assembly, nor are any special tools. Apparently, the Easy Domes can be built on just about any surface. (The website doesn’t list water or lava, but we can probably cut them some slack on that one.)
Because of their design, Easy Domes states that their creations can handle extreme storm winds, earthquakes and even be covered with earth. The shape of domes, in general, is known to be extremely strong and does stand up much better to intense weather. For example, domes can stand up to such things as hurricane winds far better than our traditional peak style homes we are all so familiar with.
The easy dome concept has a tremendous amount going for it. They are highly energy efficient, have a very novel and interesting look, can be assembled by “average people” and require no special tools to do so. The “Tuft” is a tiny prefabricated option that is really worth a look for those seeking a tiny home. (If you are really curious, you can even rent one near the village of Kvivik in the Faroe Islands right now!)
The world of small homes is exciting, in part, because there is so much variety. Homeowners are given so many potential choices. With tiny homes it really is possible for people to find a home that fits their specific needs very well. Take for example, the concepts put forth by the people at Easy Domes, built on The Faroe Islands in Denmark.
Easy Domes have a shape that many would find unique. The homes are based on the Icosahedron polyhedra which sounds a lot like an obscure dinosaur, but is really just a type of geometric shape. Think hexagon. What really makes these tiny homes so interesting is that all the sections are pre-made and can be assembled quickly and easily. Assembly is done with good old-fashioned nuts and bolts. Yet, the final product certainly doesn’t look old fashioned. Even the transport is done via a container and there is no need for a crane.
Easy Domes have done a very nice job explaining the materials used and the process on their website Easydomes.com. They have three options on their site ranging from “The Tuft,” which is a designed to be a spare time cottage, to the Duo-Domes, which are designed to be homes large enough for a small family. It is possible to link several of the easy homes together to form even larger structures. In fact, there is no theoretical limit to how many could be attached together!
The design and ease of construction are what make these domes so interesting. This design seems to be very flexible as no special skills are needed for assembly, nor are any special tools. Apparently, the Easy Domes can be built on just about any surface. (The website doesn’t list water or lava, but we can probably cut them some slack on that one.)
Because of their design, Easy Domes states that their creations can handle extreme storm winds, earthquakes and even be covered with earth. The shape of domes, in general, is known to be extremely strong and does stand up much better to intense weather. For example, domes can stand up to such things as hurricane winds far better than our traditional peak style homes we are all so familiar with.
The easy dome concept has a tremendous amount going for it. They are highly energy efficient, have a very novel and interesting look, can be assembled by “average people” and require no special tools to do so. The “Tuft” is a tiny prefabricated option that is really worth a look for those seeking a tiny home. (If you are really curious, you can even rent one near the village of Kvivik in the Faroe Islands right now!)
Um, it’s not an icosahedron. Icosahedra are made of 20 triangles. It’s part of a buckyball or whatever you want to call a soccerball shape of pentagons and hexagons. And polyhedra just means 3d shapes with flat sides, so is redundant if you’ve already specified the particular polyhedron (icosahedron or whichever.)
Actually the logo on their site is an icosohedron.
Cayenne, thanks for letting us know. I’ll ask Lynn to correct.
Hi Cayenne
The Easy Domes polyhedra has its basic in the icosahedron – 20 similar triangels. Even the traditional dome-houses seen past 20 30 years build in triangels also make use of the same Platonic polyhedra – the icosahedron. The difference from the triangeling system, where the struts carry the load, to the Easy Domes concept – where the triangels (6 to each hexagon and 5 to each pentagon) are implemented into a plane or plate structure, is to carry the load from top, crossing the edges and downwards to the plint(basement.
Basic difference is: the geometrical triangel polyhedra made from the icosahedron is stable, while the Easy Domes plate-structure is unstable – without its plate.
The triangeling system has advantages – and big disadvantages being difficult to erect and as a very long time job to mount and finish – with advantages in no limits in size if the triangels have a high frequence. To this a dome can be built in several thousands of squaremeter.
The Easy Domes plate structure has big advantages if you think of building domes as family-domes or buildings upp to a few hundred squaremeter. It is easy to erect, quick to mount and you have no need for special connectors. The disadvantage is that the building sections – hexagons, pentagons and quadrangels can not be too big. The weight gets to high, the sections difficult to transport and the strength of each sections makes also problems if it becomes too big.
So – buckuball, soccerball – or football……it is actually called a Truncated Icosahedron.
The fifth figure of Platon, or the carbon molocule….you will find the figure in natur environment from micro to small to big examples……
God luck!