Ten recent buildings that prove domed architecture is back in vogue
Architectural domes are having a moment. In this roundup, we collect 10 recently completed buildings featured on Dezeen that demonstrate the trend. Domed buildings have a history that dates back several millennia. Arguably the most famous dome in the world – topping the Pantheon in Rome – was constructed nearly 2,000 years ago. The fascination The post Ten recent buildings that prove domed architecture is back in vogue appeared first on Dezeen.
Architectural domes are having a moment. In this roundup, we collect 10 recently completed buildings featured on Dezeen that demonstrate the trend.
Domed buildings have a history that dates back several millennia. Arguably the most famous dome in the world – topping the Pantheon in Rome – was constructed nearly 2,000 years ago.
The fascination has endured for many architects, particularly Richard Buckminster Fuller, who patented the geodesic dome in 1954. Fuller's design was adopted enthusiastically by the hippie movement, most notably at the Drop City artists' commune in Colorado.
Meanwhile, the smooth, monolithic dome was invented in Idaho in 1976 to store potatoes, according to the Monolithic Dome Institute.
We've seen fewer domes over the past decade, but in architecture, as with everything else, trends are cyclical, and there are signs that the form may be making a comeback.
Read on for 10 recent examples of architects embracing the dome:
Play Pavilion, UK, by Peter Cook
The Serpentine Gallery's annual summer pavilion in Kensington Gardens gives architects an opportunity to experiment, and this year, a children's pavilion has been commissioned alongside the main event for the first time.
British architect Peter Cook, best known for co-founding avant-garde architecture group Archigram in the 1960s, topped the orange structure's wavy walls with a geodesic dome roof.
Find out more about Play Pavilion ›
Ground, South Korea, by Tadao Ando
As Cook's colourful pavilion was unveiled in London, 9,000 kilometres away in Wonju, South Korea, a much more serious architectural dome was also completing.
Japanese architect Tadao Ando created a cave-like concrete gallery to serve as a permanent exhibition space for cast-iron sculptures by British artist Antony Gormley. It was commissioned by Museum SAN to challenge "conventional white-cube exhibition formats".
HATA, USA, by Anastasiya Dudik
Another dome that recently caught readers' attention on Dezeen is HATA, a moonbase-like holiday home in the California desert.
Designer and builder Anastasiya Dudik said the concept for the home was "future primitive – a return to organic, ancestral forms through a futuristic lens".
Blue Ocean Dome, Japan, by Shigeru Ban
Expos are like a catwalk fashion show for architecture, and for Expo 2025 Osaka, one of the world's best-respected architects, Shigeru Ban, opted to design a pavilion consisting of three domes.
He used cardboard, laminated bamboo and carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic for the tubes that form the domes' skeletons. The intention was for the structures to be lightweight, easy to disassemble and create minimal waste.
Find out more about Blue Ocean Dome ›
West Bund Dome Art Center, China, Schmidt Hammer Lassen
Danish architecture studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen sought to make the most of an existing dome in this adaptive reuse project, which saw a cement factory in Shanghai transformed into a performing arts and sports venue.
The studio used historic documents to restore the dome's orange-painted internal steel frame. "Maintaining the dome structure as a historic relic that symbolised the memory of the site, sitting amongst a new part of the city, was an exciting proposition for us," principal design director Chris Hardie told Dezeen.
Find out more about West Bund Dome Art Center ›
Wisdome Stockholm, Sweden, by Elding Oscarson
Nearly 300 triangular pieces of cross-laminated timber were used to construct this dome at the National Swedish Museum of Technology, containing tiered seating surrounded by 3D screens.
Though the dome is inside, architecture studio Elding Oscarson still wanted it to be the main focus of the building, so decided on a timber roof that curves and bulges over it.
Find out more about Wisdome Stockholm ›
Apple The Exchange TRX, Malaysia, by Foster + Partner
UK studio Foster + Partners challenges the idea that domes need circular layouts with this Apple Store in Kuala Lumpur. "Designed as a glazed dome, the 26.5 by 26.5-metre roof transitions seamlessly between square and round geometries from the base to the top," said the studio.
It tops a square-planned, sunken retail space that is mostly invisible at ground level, and is covered in louvres to protect shoppers from the tropical sun.
Find out Apple The Exchange TRX ›
Twisted Brick Shell Library, China, by HCCH Studio
Twisted Brick Shell Library, a pavilion sitting in a field across the Quijiang River from the city of Quzhou, is another project that plays with the architectural dome.
It is formed of two hemispheres connected by a twisting wall and was built from perforated steel plates and concrete cast in situ, which creates the visual impression of mortar between the brickwork.
Find out more about Twisted Brick Shell Library ›
The US has a strong tradition of domed sports arenas, and the most recent example is the Intuit Dome, designed by international firm AECOM for the LA Clippers NBA team.
Opened in August 2024, the structure is covered by a gridded dome shell clad in diamond-shaped metal panels that the architects said is intended to resemble a basketball passing through a net.
Meanwhile at a similar time, Trahan Architects completed a series of renovations of the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans after it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Find out more about Intuit Dome ›
MSG Sphere Las Vegas, USA, by Populous
Confusingly, one of the most famous architectural domes – the Millennium Dome in London, designed by British architect Richard Rogers – is not technically a dome. Adding to the confusion, the world's best-known spherical building – the MSG Sphere Las Vegas – is not actually a sphere, but a vast dome.
Designed by architecture studio Populous, the entertainment venue made waves when it opened two years ago thanks to its gigantic screen skin, formed of tens of millions of LEDs.
Find out more about MSG Sphere Las Vegas ›
The post Ten recent buildings that prove domed architecture is back in vogue appeared first on Dezeen.
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