Precedent Analysis Georgia Dome Draft

Georgia Dome

Early March of 1992, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia was completed by Scott W. Braley and his structural engineers, Matthys Levy and Antranig Ouzonnian (Janberg). During a time in which the city of Atlanta was facing threats by for the franchise to leave for a city with more profit, the arena slash stadium was built, mostly for the Atlanta Falcons football team. The Dome is 227 meters in length, 185 meters in width, and 82.5 meters in height. The materials used in creating the facility was PTFE-coated glass-fiber fabric, precast and reinforced concrete (Janberg). The Georgia Dome was constructed based on a tensegrity skeletal structure; it “employs continuous tension members and discontinuous compression members in such a way that each member operates with the maximum efficiency (“tensegrity”).” The Dome is credited with having the largest tensegrity roof in the world. The architect Scott Braley stated that "Everything about this job is plain Jane - everything except the roof, that is (Coomber).” The base of the structure is composed of seven levels and two atriums made of glass. From an aerial perspective, the structure appears to have an elongated octagonal shape, yet the interior is oval shape, in order to serve as an arena. The current seating capacity for the arena is 71,250 (About the Dome). The initial structure is massive in size which brings awe to the viewer, yet it is the dome structure which has made the Georgia Dome noteworthy.
The idea behind the dome structure was brought about by R. Buckminster Fuller’s visions of a tensegrity dome consisted of cables. The central idea of the dome is “an oval defined by two radii (Goodno).” There are 52 vertical columns coming from the seating area of the arena which support the initial circular beam to which the dome construction branches from. There then are 26 points spaced roughly every 25 meters which act as attachment point for the cable infrastructure. Throughout the provided base structures for the dome, cables are created based around a triangle system which are placed 20, 46, and 75 meters from the 26 attachment points on the circular beam (Goodno). The roof is then covered by the PTFE-coated glass-fiber fabric which is able to sustain heavy amounts of weight, yet provides a more spacious, airy feel to the interior of the dome. The initial cable dome was then LARSA tested for temperature changes causing compression and prestress issues. The tests resulted in finding that there was a need of 30% prestress in order for the dome to be rigid; the structure already fit that criteria and therefore didn’t need to alter it’s prestress (Goodno). The dome structure only needed to be supported at its edge in order for the structure to be stable because of the tensegrity structural design; therefore, there is no need for there to be large columns in the center and throughout the dome in order for the structure to be able to stand.
The intricacy and massive scale of the structure is just the beginning to it’s significance in the design world of the 21st century. The ability for the tensegrity skeletal structure to be designed in such a massive size was only capable through tests and runs through computers, meaning that technology has played an extremely large role both in making the dome construction possible and expanding the possibilities of design further than the domes of the Romans. Goodno says that the dome structure “could not have been realized without the availability of computers and nonlinear programs.” Technology has expanded the horizons of the design world to places which most would never dreamed to have achieved. The Georgia Dome is a prime example of the 21st century design world; experimentation, testing boundaries, expansion of mathematical capabilities in architecture. The Georgia Dome reiterates the importance of geometry in design, much like the Romans, and the Renaissance in Florence; the symmetrical appeal and the use of triangles displays the complexity yet is pleasing and delightful to the eye. The importance of light is still valued in the design world today, as displayed in the Georgia Dome. The dome itself allows light to travel and give the structure a sense of immense spatial freedom. The atriums in the base structure provide natural light to enter into the structure while allowing individuals to look out into the downtown area of Atlanta. The Georgia Dome shows that the design world of today has not changed much from the earlier centuries other than the benefits technology reaps.

Works Cited:

“About the Dome.” Georgia Dome. 07 April 2009.

Coomber, Matthew. "Cable Top Football ." Building Oct. 1991. 6 Apr. 2009 .

Goodno, Barry J., and Jeff R. Wright . "Analysis of the Georgia Dome Cable Roof ." Proceedings of the Eighth Conference of Computing in Civil Engineering and Georgraphic Information Systems Symposium (June 7 1992): 6 Apr. 2009 .

Janberg, Nicolas. Nicolas Janberg's Structurae [en]: Georgia Dome. 14 Nov. 2006. 6 Apr. 2009 http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=s0000372

Setzer, Steven W. "Raise the High Record Roof ." Engineering News Record 16 Mar. 1992. 6 Apr. 2009 .

. "tensegrity." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 07 Apr. 2009. .