Jan 192013
 

Bucky was not an architect, nor an engineer, and actually explains his patent for geodesic geometry.

TC Howard was one of several talented architects who were overshadowed by Bucky.  Shoji Sadao was Bucky’s partner who designed the 67 Montreal Expo Pavilion with Geometrics, Inc.  All of the Geometrics, Inc architects, Don Richter for Kaiser domes and Temcor  and Jeffrey Lindsay.  TC Howard is synonymous with Synergetics, Inc.

Montreal Expo 67 U.S. pavillion

Montreal Expo 67 U.S. pavillion

There is an over-abundance  of architectural firms, and it took a flamboyant person like Bucky to grab the attention and get the commissions.  Bucky was well known and had great connections, and originally pioneered the idea to make prefabricated housing to bring  down the price of owning a home.

He was not interested in building larger domes.  TC never designed houses.  TC helped prove that the larger the geodesic dome the stronger it became.  Bucky did not want to be in the dome building business.  Kaiser aluminum saw the dome industry as a new use for supplying aluminum.

Union Tank Car Dome

Union Tank Car Dome

Union Tank Car foresaw the potential also:  they bought the rights to the UTC dome plans and were going to start manufacturing more.  North American Aviation saw the decline of air crafts and also wanted to expand into the dome business:  ASM dome and the Climatron.

Climatron Missouri Botanical Gardens

Climatron Missouri Botanical Gardens

For more on TC Howard, click here.

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