Domed home in California is designed to feel both "ancient and otherworldly"

[localroger]

4. It's a nice execution, but not particularly new

It's a Monolithic Dome. And yes, it's trademarked; they've been made by the 1970's. Polyurethane foam is sprayed inside an inflatable form, this in turn supports gunite (spray concrete) to complete the superstructure. The result is well-insulated and tornado and earthquake proof. This is a nice example of taking the resulting structure and exploring what is possible with the inevitable resulting form. I like the conversation pit and the negative-space reflecting pool. It's much more interesting than the usual approach, which is to make the super tough dome as much like a normal building inside as possible.