Esoteric Survey

I found myself at the Domes of Casa Grande again. This is an update to my  2015 visit  when my friend Kristen wrote a guest post about the domes.   Just as an overview, InnerConn Technology, a circuit board manufacturer from Mountain View, California planned to move their manufacturing facilities 10 miles south of Casa Grande, Arizona. The company created a subsidiary called Dome Industrial & Homebuilders Inc. They planned to build the dome project in three phases, the first was the office, then then manufacturing plant and housing would come next. Unfortunately, they never moved beyond a short-lived office phase. The domes have sit vacant since 1982.  The domes during construction in 1982. Source: Arizona Daily Star Source:  Casa Grande Dispatch Source: Casa Grande Dispatch

I stayed at a geodesic dome home in Santa Fe. The architect built the dome in 1979 for his parents. It is constructed of two thin layers of concrete over a steel frame.  The passive solar design with what seems like incredible insulation made for a toasty stay. That's coming from a thin-skinned San Diegan who is not used to 30 degree temperatures.  Dome door

Baggins End Innovative Housing cooperative was designed by Ron Swenson. It consists of 14 polyurethane-insulated fiberglass domes located in the Sustainable Research Area on UC Davis. It was conceived in the 1960's and opened in 1972.  Dome construction Source:  Baggins End Dome construction Source:  Baggins End Dome construction Source:  Baggins End Feel the Dome Would you expect anything different? Innovative Housing Source:  Baggins End In 2011, there was a plan by UC Davis to demolish the domes. An effort was made by students to "save the domes", which included fundraising for restoration. A third party management company stepped in to rehab the domes and a new five year lease was signed.

  In 1879, when the tracks to the Southern Pacific Railroad ran out, five overheated workers from Yuma dug their heels in the sand—and the community of Terminus, Arizona, was born. The three buildings they raised in the aridity of the high Sonoran desert were truly the “end of the line.” When the summer heat wave ended, the tracks from Terminus resumed to Tucson, and the micro-village grew into a small town. In a nod to local prehistory for the nearby Hohokam ruins—or perhaps to avoid christening the place as a future ghost town—railroad executives redubbed Terminus as “Casa Grande.” The town boomed as a railhead to mining prospects, but fires levelled the town center to cinders twice within a decade. When mining slowed in the 1890s, agriculture took over, and Casa Grande settled into itself, with a current population of about 48,000. True to its railway roots, Casa Grande is alternately referred to as the “crossroads” and “heart” of Arizona: smack at the intersection of the...

The Dome House, 1949, in Cave Creek Arizona, by Paolo Soleri and Mark Mills. Both were former apprentices under  Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West.   The house was commissioned by Lenora Woods. The story  goes that after the house was finished Mills got to keep the  tools and Soleri got the client's daughter.   Paolo and Lenora Woods' daughter Colly were married from 1949 until her passing in 1982. It looks very FLW from this angle. Photo: Julius Shulman Photo: Julius Shulman Photo: Julius Shulman Photo: Julius Shulman Photo: Julius Shulman