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Buckminister (Bucky) Fuller was born in 1895.  He taught at NC's Black Mountain College during the summers of 1948 and 1949.  There, with the support of a group of professors and students, he began reinventing a project that would make him famous: the geodesic dome.

Although the geodesic dome was invented some 30 years earlier by Dr. Walther Bauersfeld, Fuller was awarded many US patents and is credited for making it popular.  International recognition came from Fuller's huge geodesic domes in the 1950s. Fuller taught at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Fuller came to the NCSU School of Design many times and influenced T. C. Howard, who had a double major in architecture and engineering.  Howard became part of Fuller's dome enterprise, Synergetics Inc. and became owner when Fuller left in 1958.

Howard grew up in Denver NC and went to school at NCSU in Nuclear Engineering.  He became an architect by passing the state architecture exam, establishing a reputation for brilliance that still endures.

In 1956, Synergetics was under contract to the United States Department of Commerce.  They designed and test-built a 100-foot diameter trade fair pavilion dome in Raleigh.  It was then flown to Kabul, Afghanistan and later used for trade fairs and expositions in South America, Africa, Europe and the Orient. That same year Synergetics designed and built what was at the time the world's largest free-span structure, a 384-foot diameter geodesic dome in Baton Rouge, Louisiana constructed for the Union Tank Car Company as a facility to house and repair railroad cars.

Synergetics Inc.'s dome business boomed, including commissions for the St. Louis Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden, left. A 125-foot diameter hemisphere was designed for use by Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Ghana, and various other domes went to the Air Force Academy, the 1961 Seattle and 1964 New York World's Fairs, and to Cleveland, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Niagara Falls.

Howard was also an owner of Charter Industries, Inc. that leased domes around the world. The domes at the NC Fairgrounds are portable Charter spheres.

Typically, domes are better suited as commercial rather than residential application. They can be erected on a moment's notice, provide an instant venue, then packed up and on to the next town.  More than 500,000 geodesic domes were built around the world and many are still in use.

According to the Buckminster Fuller Institute, the largest geodesic-dome structures are:

• Fantasy Entertainment Complex: Kyosho Isle, Japan, 216 m (710 ft).
• Multi-Purpose Arena: Nagoya, Japan, 187 m (614 ft).
• Tacoma Dome: Tacoma WA, USA, 162 m (530 ft).
• Superior Dome: Northern Michigan University, Marquette MI, USA, 160 m (525 ft).
• Walkup Skydome: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ, USA, 153 m (502 ft).
• Poliedro de Caracas: Caracas, Venezuela, 145 m (475 feet).  It was manufactured in Raleigh NC.
• Round Valley High School Stadium: Springerville-Eagar, AZ, USA, 134 m (440 ft).
• Former Spruce Goose Hangar: Long Beach CA, USA, 126 m (415 ft).
• Formosa Plastics Storage Facility: Mai Liao, Taiwan, 123 m (402 ft).
• Union Tank Car Maintenance Facility: Baton Rouge LA USA, 117 m (384 ft), destroyed in November 2007.
• Lehigh Portland Cement Storage Facility: Union Bridge, MD USA, 114 m (374 ft).
• The Eden Project, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Adapted from Wikipedia and NC Architects and Builders.

1962 - The Bernard Judge Residence, Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles CA. one of the most famous domes in America.  Designed by architect Bernard Judge.  It was difficult to control the heat coming through the top, so Judge made a layer of fabric, shown above.  That did not work, so he added openings in the glass.  Top left photo by Julius Shulman.  Bottom photo by Ralph Crane.

  1982 - The William H. Bahr House, 1326 Poplar Lane, Hillsborough NC.  Assembled from a kit by the Bahrs.  Was unoccupied and on the market 2007-2011. Sold in 2012 to John Corey.

1998 - The Kay and Les MacFee Dome, 3300 Tranquil Trail, Mebane NC.  45' diameter, 2400 square feet, 3 levels, 3 bedrooms and 3 baths.  Located on a 10 acre lot.

1983 - The Sam Brooks Dome, 3620 Hawk Ridge Road, Chapel Hill. 
4.5 acres.  Sold to David Leigh.  In 2011, it was a rental.

2004 - The Mark Molitor Residence, 301 Sky Lane, Pittsboro NC.  10 acres.   Molitor designed the house himself.  The shell is a kit configured from Oregon Dome consisting of 2”x6” Douglas Fir construction materials.  It arrived in a 53’ trailer.  The exterior is stone and has an insulated concrete form basement.  Molitor served as general contractor and did most of the finishing work. There is a 4-floor manual dumbwaiter!

Year unknown - The Dan Stern Dome. 
Between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough.  Photo by Matt Jones.

Year Unknown - Rougemont NC in Person County.