Photo report: Electric Wonderland, building a geodesic dome in the Croatian mountains
At the fifth Electric Wonderland Summer Camp in the Croatian mountains, participants were invited to build a geodesic dome. Photo report.
On July 22-28, the Croatian makerspace Radiona hosted Electric Wonderland 2023, 5th international hacker/maker & artists-in-residence camp in the Velebit mountains. Electric Wonderland is combining art, technology, culture and science with DIY, DIWO (do-it-with-others) and DITO (do-it-together) cultures. International and domestic guests are invited to teach, collaborate or do a residence during the camp, but the participants of the camp can also take their part in leading workshops, facilitating Off the Grid Labs, guiding a hiking or field trips, or do what they think might be interesting to the camp participants.
The main activity of this year’s Electric Wonderland is building a permanent geodesic dome within the location of Camp Velebit which will be used as a workshop space for many editions of the Electric Wonderland camp. Other than that, participants were busy soldering interesting sound generators and effects, making T-shirts using screen printing, creating abstract visuals using analog video gear and making a DIY laser projector.
Mislav Cvetko, one of the dome building workshop leaders and member of the Peron 8, an association that develops and encourages knowledge, innovation and practical implementation in design, art and architecture. He is securing the first ring of the dome to the concrete anchors. There are 10 concrete anchors which ensure stability and also lift the entire dome off the ground, to protect it from moisture.
Treating the wooden beams with an insect repellent. This prevents insect larvae from compromising the mechanical properties of the beams.
The beams are not heavy and most people can carry them with ease.
The participants are joining the beams with pre-made star-shaped elements. They use large nuts and bolts which are tightened using a wrench. It’s not supposed to be too tight, to allow for small errors. When the construction is finished, the bolts will be tightened using an electric ratchet.
Raising the first row of triangles. Some participants came to the camp with their family, and even the children are helping.
First row of triangles finished in less than one hour!
The last wooden being fixed into place, making the dome frame complete.
Mila and Ivan, participants of the Electric Wonderland camp, using the biscuit joiner tool to make large triangle panels out of plywood.
Mislav, Lenart and Iva cut the styrofoam insulation with a hot wire and glue it to the plywood panels. This will serve as thermal insulation which is much needed in the Velebit mountain climate.
Plywood panels are screwed into the beam. The gaps between the panels are filled with polyurethane foam.
Almost finished! The windows will be made of polycarbonate sheets, which provide light, but also serve as good thermal insulation.
Finished construction of the dome, temporarily lit by LED lights. We invited other guests of the camp to see the dome and to tell them the whole story.
Opening party in the dome, with lasers! The outside of the dome is not finished yet, it needs to be covered in plaster, which will protect it from the weather and make it a permanent structure.
Text and photos by Tomislav Tukša.
Electric Wonderland is part of the Feral Labs network and the cooperative project Rewilding Cultures co-funded by the Europe Creative programme of the European Union.