Hello friends! Here is my story about one of my adventurous projects )
I had no experience in construction when I thought of building the first geodetic house on Koh Phangan (which I called One Love Dome). I knew nothing about domes and their advantages over box-shaped houses. But I was fascinated by this unusual cosmic shape, and the idea that I would build an unusual house unlike everyone else sparked a twinkle in my eyes.
Looking ahead, I will say that the construction was much harder and longer than I expected. Still, if I could turn time back, I would still do it ))
The initial concept was to build a light geodetic dome consisting of a metal frame, awning, and wooden floor. After making calculations and building a model of drinking straws, we started to make the floor with my Thai employee Mat.
Already at this stage the lack of knowledge began to manifest itself )) I slightly miscalculated the height of piles, and as a result, the floor was almost one meter higher than I expected. But it turned out to be even cooler and more protected from the invasion of tropical creatures ))
The next step was to assemble the metal frame in a connector-free way. Basically, it was the most exciting stage of the construction because it came quite easily. After just a few days, Mat and I finished the work!
Next, we had to make the tent, and this task was far more challenging. The price for making such tent in Thailand was very high, around USD 15,000, so I ordered a large roll of fabric from Russia, found a Thai tailor, and we started the sewing process, gluing all seams. It was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, especially the work on large “petals.” However, after a month of work, we managed to put the tent on our structure!
We had little time to rejoice because two problems arose during several days.
The house was in the open sun, and the metal frame turned into a big heating radiator. Despite the tent, it was very hot inside.
Although the tent passed the rain test, when a storm came on, troubles began. The wind rubbed tore the tent at junctions of beams, and it began to leak in those places.
In general, I had to admit that the attempt of making the tent structure was unsuccessful. We put the project on hold, not knowing what to do next. I had no experience in construction. I did not know anything about the TRIZ yet, and the dome house constructors who I addressed did not help me much. Approximately one month later I met Alexander who not only had excellent technical vision but was also interested in geodesic domes.
He suddenly solved this problem by proposing to make walls instead of the awning and writing a plan of what and how should be done.
So, with such an energy boost and yet another very valuable team member, we continued the construction.
But that’s enough for today; I will tell you the details in my next post.
P.S. If you are interested in the architecture of the future, eco-construction and independent houses, I will be glad to see you among my 