<<Back to Knowledgebase

Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1981) developed the Octet Truss System from octahedron-tetrahedron geometries. The Ford Rotunda Building built in 1953 in Dearborn, Michigan used aluminum Octet Truss grids to form a 93 ft diameter geodesic dome. Fuller invented geodesic domes and obtained his first patent for devising their configuration in 1954.

Konrad Wachsmann (1901-1980) developed a complicated connector made up of a combination of four standard die forged elements which allowed up to twenty tubular members to be connected at each node.

The French designer Stephane du Chateau (1908-1999) developed Tridirectionelle S.D.C. in 1957 which involved shop welding of tubular members to each other.  He also developed Pyramitec (made of pyramid modules) in 1940 followed by the widely used Unibat system in 1962.  He invented Tridimatec system in 1965, made of planar trusses connected to each other, and Spherobat made of two-part hollow spherical nodes in 1984. The Tridimatec was very economical for light loads and moderate spans. The Pyramitec was developed for larger spans and loads. The prefabricated units were bolted together with high-strength bolts. The Unibat system was the most successful of du Chateau’s designs, which was made of pyramid units interconnected by a single horizontal bolt. The Unibat system modules were easily assembled in the field since they did not require expensive node connectors.

<<Back to Knowledgebase