An iconic Buckminster Fuller dome has collapsed due to unprecedented snowfall
The beloved sculpture, located at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, New York, caved in after a blizzard pummeled the area
Last week, a historic blizzard walloped the East Coast, paralysing communities and smashing snowfall records. Unfortunately, the harsh conditions also smashed an architectural icon: On 25 February, staff at LongHouse Reserve, a sculpture park and cultural campus in East Hampton, New York, discovered that a Fly’s Eye Dome designed by pioneering American architect and theorist Buckminster Fuller, had collapsed.
A view of the sculpture shortly after its installation in 1998.
The beloved Wiffle ball-like sculpture had stood on the site since 1998, serving as a futuristic backdrop for events including concerts, lectures and sound baths. But heavy snowfall — the most in East Hampton since 1963 – and freezing temperatures caused the 33-ft-wide fibreglass structure to cave. It’s just one of five Fly’s Eye Domes in the world, including versions in the Miami Design District and at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.
‘We are shocked by the collapse of the Fly's Eye Dome, a monument at LongHouse that epitomises our mission to inspire living with art in all forms,’ said Louis Bradbury, president of LongHouse’s board of trustees, in a statement.
A view of the damage.
Buckminster Fuller – affectionately known as ‘Bucky’ to those who knew him– is most famous for having evolved the geodesic dome. Fly’s Eye Domes were a continuation of that research and a prototype for lightweight, utopian housing units that had the potential to be stacked in groups of three; the circular openings or ‘eyes’ would function as windows.
Fuller patented the design, which he called an ‘autonomous dwelling machine,’ in 1965. Fuller died in 1983, but a student and protege John Kuhtik later fabricated the design for LongHouse Reserve according to Fuller's specifications.
A view through the sculpture's 'oculi' before its collapse in late February.
LongHouse Reserve was founded by textile artist and collector Jack Lenor Larsen, who lived on the 16-acre property until his passing in 2020. More than 60 works by artists like Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono and Willem de Kooning dot its gardens.
Bradbury, the board of trustees president, noted that the institution is working with its insurance carrier to assess the damage to the campus, and will launch a restoration effort of the Fly’s Eye Dome once weather conditions improve.
‘Clearing and replacing the Fly's Eye Dome will be an enormous undertaking, at significant cost and requiring in-depth research. We thank our community in advance for patience and support,’ he said.
