Dome at OCAD

There is a a deep disconnection between the human scale and the scale of the OCAD building in Toronto. To emphasize this disconnect of scale I decide to build a dome to fill the void of the Butterfield Park and create a structure that relates more proportionately to the building as a whole. Will Alsop’s design for the Sharp Centre is a collection of rectilinear shapes at a variety of angles. A circular dome breaks up this pattern of shapes by adding a third shape.

The dome that I created has a base thirty feet wide with a circumference of one hundred feet, and a floor area of 800 square feet. The dome is twenty feet tall and it contains a volume of over 12,000 cubic feet.

The dome was built of clear three millimeter plastic sheeting. It consisted ten gores that have been fused together at their seams. It is weighed down with rocks that are placed in a prefabricated sleeve.

As this was an assignment for a Sculpture and Installation course at OCAD I used the structure for my presentation by inviting the class inside the dome.