Center for Spirituality and Sustainability (Fuller Dome)

The Fuller Dome in Edwardsville, Illinois — the only realized example of Fuller's "Geoscope" idea.

The Center for Spirituality and Sustainability, popularly called the Fuller Dome, is a geodesic dome in Edwardsville, Illinois, designed by R. Buckminster Fuller with his architectural partner Shoji Sadao and completed in 1971. It was built as a religious center for the then-new Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus, on land leased from the university, and has served the region since as a place for multi-faith and interfaith gatherings.

The dome is described as the only built realization of Fuller's "Geoscope" concept — a spherical, translucent, miniature-Earth building meant to give occupants a vantage point for seeing their place in the world and the world's place in the universe. In Fuller's words, the center's miniature earth lets one "go inside to go outside one's self and into the center of the Earth and thence outward to the stars in seconds." Fuller read his essay "Geoview" at the dome's 1971 dedication.

Today the dome is operated by a nonprofit, the Center for Spirituality and Sustainability, whose mission is to preserve the structure as an embodiment of Fuller's philosophy and to keep his Geoscope, World Game, and World Resource Simulation Center concepts active — including a "World Peace Game" played on a large Dymaxion Map. The Center hosts weekly "Soul Sunday" gatherings, an annual Celebration of World Faiths, and annual dual leadership awards for spirituality and sustainability. Preservation programming has been carried out in collaboration with the Buckminster Fuller Institute.

See Also

• R. Buckminster Fuller (R. Buckminster Fuller) — the central figure
• Shoji Sadao (Shoji Sadao) — Fuller's architectural partner and co-designer
• Southern Illinois University (Southern Illinois University) — the university whose Edwardsville campus hosts the dome
• World Game (World Game Institute) — a Fuller concept kept active at the Center

Sources

• Center for Spirituality and Sustainability (fullerdome.org)