The Buckminster FULLER DOME • Edwardsville Illinois
center for spirituality and sustainability, promoting humanity’s sacred connection to the earth and each other
We are proud to be hosting the Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainability Conference again this year in the Fuller Dome on Friday 10/11/24 at 12:30 Central.
Soul Sunday in the Fuller Dome
Join us every Sunday at 10:30 AM in the Fuller Dome for “Soul Sunday.” The heart of this spiritual gathering is the sharing of prayers, inspirational readings, and passages from the scriptures of many faiths. Beyond that, there is no set form. You are welcome to simply sit, meditate and enjoy the spiritual atmosphere, or take a more active role by bringing and reading spiritual writings that uplift you. All are welcome. Masks are optional.
The Center's vision is to preserve the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome in Edwardsville, Illinois, as the physical embodiment of Fuller's philosophy. The dome's translucent "miniature Earth" is a beacon for global unity, providing a place for connecting the world's cultural and spiritual traditions through their common concern for the planet.
The Center's Fuller designed geodesic dome under construction in 1971
The Center for Spirituality and Sustainability is an independent, not-for-profit organization located in a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller on land leased from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). Since 1971 the Center has served the University and area communities as a place for multifaith and interfaith activity. A variety of educational, cultural and social events are held throughout the year inside this landmark structure.
Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Baha’i and Native American faith traditions hold devotions, celebrations and public programs at the Center. A “Celebration of World Faiths” is held annually, highlighting various faith traditions and interfaith issues. The Center also hosts an annual awards ceremony honoring two awardees each year. One award is presented for spiritual leadership and another for leadership in sustainability. These annual dual awards allow the Center recognize those who have shown leadership values that reenforce the Center's mission to promote humanity's sacred connection to the Earth and each other.
360° VR TOUR
click here to load the Fuller Dome 360° VR tour
Join our sustaining membership, become a “Friend of the Center” and you’ll get two challenge coins mailed to you when you become a “Friend of the Center” one is for you to keep and the second one is for you to gift as a lovely way of recognizing graduations, promotions & life’s special moments. Bucky’s inspirational quote can be a reminder for your loved one to build the world they wish to live in, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” - RBF
A 50th Anniversary reading of Buckminster Fuller's "Geoview" essay, originally read by Bucky for the 1971 dedication of his Religious Center, miniature-earth, "Geoscope" dome built on the SIUE campus. "Geoview" is read here on 10/22/21 (50 years from the day Bucky read it) by Bucky's grandson Jaime Snyder, his granddaughter Alexandra Snyder May, Bucky scholar David McConville, Bucky's colleague Amy Edmondson, Bucky devotee Benjamin Lowder, Bucky's niece Lucilla Fuller Marvel, and author of the Bucky play D. W. Jacobs. Today the Center is known as the Fuller Dome and it is managed by a nonprofit org. the Center for Spirituality & Sustainability.
50 years ago, Buckminster Fuller and his architectural partner Shoji Sadao completed construction on a landmark geodesic dome that they designed as a Religious Center for the newly founded Southern Illinois University campus at Edwardsville, IL. The dome they created was the realization of a vision that Bucky had for a building idea he called a “Geoscope.” His “Geoscope” concept would be a spherical, translucent, miniature earth building that would allow it’s occupants a unique architectural vantage point to see their place in the world and the world’s place in the universe. This was achieved by aligning the longitudinal lines of the building’s miniature earth dome with those of the actual earth. In Bucky’s words, "a sense of orientation of each human individual within the profound magnificence of Universe is provided by the Center’s miniature earth. One goes inside to go outside one’s self and into the center of the Earth and thence outward to the stars in seconds. The Edwardsville Center becomes at once a cathedral of universal reality and a cathedral of universal mystery…" Bucky envisioned building “Geoscopes” all over the world, straddling key lines of longitude around the planet. He eventually had the opportunity to build his “Geoscope” straddling the earth’s 90th Meridian in Edwardsville, IL on the SIUE campus. That building was dedicated in 1971, and today the Fuller Dome in Edwardsville Illinois is managed by the non profit organization, Center for Spirituality and Sustainability. It stands has the only built example in the world of Bucky’s “Geoscope” concept.
