Calico Dome proposal (Phase II). Calico Dome The Calico Dome was a geodesic dome at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India inspired from designs of Buckminster Fuller. It was a combined showroom and shop for Calico Mills and was inaugurated in 1962. It later collapsed and is being reconstructed by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright created a design for an administrative office for Calico Mills, but it was not constructed as Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation did not give permission. Later on the same site, the Calico Dome was constructed. Gautam Sarabhai and his team designed the Calico Dome, inspired by Buckminster Fuller's geodesic
Geodesic dome resists sun and weathering. Some form of internal flashing or caulking must be placed over the joints to prevent drafts. The 1963 Cinerama Dome was built from precast concrete hexagons and pentagons. Given the complicated geometry of the geodesic dome, dome builders rely on tables of strut lengths, or "chord factors". In "Geodesic Math and How to Use It", Hugh Kenner writes, "Tables of chord factors, containing as they do the essential design information for spherical systems, were for many years guarded like military secrets. As late as 1966, some 3"ν" icosa figures from "Popular Science Monthly" were all anyone