Addendum

Dome Sweet Dome

Where geodesic domes thrive today, from glamping resorts to the Las Vegas Sphere

Geodesic domes have rarely made practical private homes or apartment buildings, but they remain popular for striking resort and wilderness accommodations (“glamping” domes are everywhere now) and for large public exhibitions and facilities.

A geodesic dome A geodesic dome A geodesic dome A geodesic dome A geodesic dome A geodesic dome A geodesic dome A geodesic dome

The Sphere

Las Vegas, Nevada

The newest and most amazing contemporary dome is the Sphere in Las Vegas.

It isn't a traditional geodesic dome, but it is built on the same idea. Its steel exoskeleton is a grid of evenly spaced rings braced with diagonals, a network of interlocking triangles that gives the 360° shape its strength, just as Bucky Fuller would have done it.

As the story goes, the Sphere began as a simple sketch by James Dolan, now executive chairman and CEO of Sphere Entertainment Co.: a circle with a stick figure inside. It grew into a $2.3 billion technological marvel. The project was announced in February 2018, ground was broken that September, and after five years of construction the Sphere opened on September 29, 2023, with a concert residency by U2.

The Sphere in Las Vegas lit up at night
The Sphere's LED exterior The Sphere's LED exterior showing a different display
The Sphere on the Las Vegas skyline The Sphere's exterior display
Inside the Sphere: the wraparound interior screen above the audience
366 fttall (112 m)
516 ftwide (157 m)
$2.3Bto build
17,600seats

Size and Dimensions

  • The largest spherical building in the world
  • Height: 366 feet (112 meters)
  • Width: 516 feet (157 meters) at its broadest point
  • Total area: 875,000 square feet (81,300 square meters)
  • The Statue of Liberty, pedestal and all (305 feet), would fit inside

Cost and Construction

  • Total cost: $2.3 billion, the most expensive entertainment venue ever built in Las Vegas
  • About 110,000 cubic yards (84,000 cubic meters) of dirt excavated
  • Built with the help of the world's fourth-largest crane
  • The roof uses 32 steel trusses weighing 100 tons each
  • Ground broken September 2018; opened September 2023

Exterior Display

  • About 1.2 million programmable LED “pucks,” each with 48 diodes
  • 580,000 square feet of display, the largest LED screen on Earth
  • Visible from miles away across the Las Vegas Valley

Interior Screen

  • The world's largest high-resolution LED screen
  • 160,000 square feet, wrapping up, over and around the audience
  • 16K × 16K resolution, about 268 million pixels

Audio System

  • The world's largest concert-grade audio system
  • 1,586 permanent loudspeaker modules and about 167,000 speaker drivers
  • Beamforming technology aims sound precisely at each section

Immersive Experience

  • 10,000 seats with haptic technology for vibration effects
  • 4D effects, including wind, temperature changes and scents

From a staple gun and plastic sheeting in Belle Plaine to a $2.3 billion sphere in the desert: the triangle still rules.

Story and photos by Robert J. Burtis and family; Sphere facts from Sphere Entertainment Co. and published reports. Page redesign, editing and fact-checking with AI assistance — in keeping with my published AI Collaboration Manifesto.