The campus serves as the headquarters of ASM International, formerly the American Society for Metals. The dome is the "world's largest open air geodesic dome", and is rare among Synergetics, Inc.-designed geodesic domes in that it was never intended to be a covered structure.
Originally serving as headquarters for the American Society for Metals in September 1959, the geodesic dome was built on a 100-acre parcel donated by William Hunt Eisenman (1886–1958), a charter member of the American Society of Metals and its secretary for nearly four decades. In 1961, ASM purchased William Hunt Eisenman's Sunnimoor Farm and 400-acres of land adjacent to the ASM campus.
The geodesic dome is actually a triacon truss rising to a height of 103 feet and is 274 feet in diameter. The dome is built using approximately 65,000 parts, including 13 miles of extruded aluminum tubing and tension rods bolted into hexagons. There are no internal supports and the entire 80-ton weight rests on five concrete-filled pylons driven up to 77 feet into the earth.
The original investment for the building and landscaping was $2.4 million. The semi-circular building, capped by a geodesic dome, symbolizes humanity’s mastery of metals and materials.
The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 22, 2009.
-description excerpted from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM_Headquarters_and_Geodesic_Dome
