A Buckminster "Buckey" Fuller, geodesic dome greenhouse !
My goodness ,.. you were a "rebel" , as well as a gardener ! Congrats !!
I knew you were an innovator when I see the cages which you and your son made to keep the critters out of your garden.
When I was in Appalachia in the later 60's, at an anti-poverty agency, I was investigating the geodesic dome as emergency housing
for 'burned-out' (disaster/fire) families in need of emergency temporary housing.
I made a 7-8 inch high model of Buckey's Dome out of the only supplies I had available to me: tongue depressers from the medical dispensary .
At #170 pounds (then), I was able to stand with my full weight on the model, since all the weight was equally distributed throughout the structure.
What dissuaded me from emergency housing use was the complex compound cuts needed in each of the dome joints and panels -
-it was too demanding of craftsmanship and labor expense, as well as lost materials/ wastage from the panels.
But , it was a revolutionary idea for its time - I commend you for taking the plunge !
Sorry to hear of the dome's demise, .. but as we all get older, the joints take the toll, the walls begin to sag, and the structure weakens, and the rust takes over.
That's why I garden: it keeps the rust and weakness from forming in the joints ,I get to renew and repaint the walls, and frequently strenghten the superstructure.
Nice pictures! I went to SIU in Carbondale back in the late 60’s early 70’s, took Bucky Fuller’s World game class while he was teaching there. As I look back it was a bunch of horseshit. I did live in one of his domes for a year, it was on a platform on 10 foot high telephone pole stilts. Used to park my VW beetle underneath and climb up the fender and roof to get inside via the trap door in the floor. TMI probably.