This one now, we're getting to Russia.

Next picture. This is the Sokol'Niki park in Moscow.

Next picture. This I'm standing in Sokol'Niki park with the dome behind.

Next picture. I think there's one of Khrushchev when they were dedicating this dome. When that dome was going up in Sokol'Niki park Khrushchev went over, he was the Premier then, and he went over to watch it going up. He is in this picture, and I'm sorry to say, the picture is chopped he was giving a speech here, this is the opening of the dome, he would be up on the left, the cameras are looking this way. And he said to the New York Times that this was "Some American inventions are very good inventions, this was a very good American invention." The Russians never said to me that they called it Russian at all, they really do credit it very much to me. And, at any rate, he said he'd like to have me come over to speak to his engineers, and this was all in the NEW YORK TIMES. As it happened this was the American and Russian protocol exchange of 1959, and the Russians put on a big exhibit in New York at Columbus, what is the name of the big building they had it in there? It is a big exhibition building in New York City? And the Americans put on this exhibition in Moscow in Sokol'Niki park.

The, I was invited by the government to go to Russia to represent engineering in the protocol exchange, this was before Khrushchev asked me to go, but at any rate I was going anyway. So when I did get there I was very warmly greeted by the Russians, and they had several meetings with engineers in town, in Moscow, but also then the architects gave a dinner for me out in the, what was the Prince Bolkowski or Wolkowski Estate. The Bolkowski or Wolkowski estate whichever way you say it was a place where in WAR AND PEACE if any of you remember, the moving picture of that, where all the young Russian Nobles met preparing themselves for the Napoleonic invasion. It's a very, very beautiful place. This is the rest palace of the architects, so this is still kept in very, very beautiful shape. And they had the dinner for me down there in the great oval dining room at the Prince Bolkanski estate, and they had a number of high functionaries of Russia present. One was the head of their planning department which is is very highest of activities in Russia. And the during that dinner I heard something very interesting. In the first place I've told Sonny Applewhite, about 1929 the Russians were asking no, 1929, it was the year that I started, went up to Bridgeport to build the car '33, I was asked to meet with a Russian in New York City by the Amtall trading company who represented them in business. And this Russian told me that the Russians were very aware of my Dymaxion House, but they said that with the five-year plannings there were all the first things first, and you're going to have to have all your steel mills, and you're going to have to have all kinds of things, and the people were in surplus, and wood was in surplus, and they said if you'll the Dymaxion House just words and pictures were to be published in Russia, it would appeal very much to their sense of efficiency, and it would be desirable, but they would not be able to get people there would be no aluminum available for the housing at that time, so that it would be completely disrupting. Then because people were in surplus and wood was in surplus they were going to have to be housed in wood in a very major way for a very long time. And they said, this engineer said, we just want you to know that we think well of your Dymaxion House but it will not see light of day for half a century.

At any rate, it was interesting, at the dinner at the... estate the Head of the Russian Planning Commission said "We've been following your work since 1929," which would coincide with that information I just had there, and they said, "We think very well of it," and they said very complementary things about it. So I said to the Russians, I would imagine that you assume that because I am here with protocol that my dome is being used, that I represent either the Russian the United States government or some big corporation in America. I said, I don't. I'm a complete individual, operating entirely on my own initiative, and I said, I think this has some real significance.

It was right at that time that there was a great deal of talk about the cult of individualism was getting to be very undesirable and so forth. And I told them about the case of Walter Chrysler making clear that I was able to get results that the big corporation couldn't get. I also told them about the Marine Corps domes where the Marine Corps finally made a very great report very long book we have over at the office where they show that I was able to get results that the Marine Corps the great corporations could not get, and got it with my own money with 30 students in University and $1,500 of my own time, I was getting results that big corporations couldn't get with $250,000 contracts in two years. And they said this was the first break thru in mobile structures in 2600 years that's in the Marine Corps report. And I said that both of these things to the Russians because I said this does demonstrate something the individual can do.

And during W.W.II I said, the beginning of it, I did get a hold of their priorities were set up, very, very strict priorities on really advanced weaponry, and I said I was able to wangle pieces of materials that I needed that were on high priority for my own research work, and I said, if in Russia you had set up priorities and the High Command had said, "This is this" What would have happened to me in Russia, if I had on my own initiative, then, thought it would be appropriate and worthwhile to society if I got a hold of some of these strategic materials. So everybody just laughed. Obviously the answer was obvious. But it was a very interesting occasion for me to really confront the Russians with what individuals can do, because they were full of admiration about this.

They have used the dome and they said they were going to use the geodesics a very great deal, and I'm quite confident they have. I've not been able to follow through on all of it, but once in a while I get one where they used it for the Communist Party Annual Congress in one year. And,

Next pictures please. This is the big dome at this is the one at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is the largest of the geodesic domes that I had a contract to build. This is for the Union Tankcar Company at Baton Rouge. It is 384 feet in diameter. It is big it's a big dome, it will take in a full American football field and end zones. And there is another one like that at Wood River, Illinois, quite near Southern Illinois University. There are two of those.

Next picture please. This was made out of scrap metal. They took scrap from their tank car building and so forth. They had to have a big the cleaning of tank cars is a renting of tank car business, and they, so many kinds of acids, and oils and things get foods get put into tank cars. You have to have ways of cleaning them out in order to rent a clean container. And so that this was an operation where they did that, and they used to be done linearly, and they couldn't get really a car out of the way of another, so slow ones under repair held up the fast ones. So under this dome they had a great turntable and they were able to bring them in and put them up in their own alcove, so that the turntable could pick them up at the right it got to be quite an extraordinary operation.

But this was then they had put together from scrap sheet from their other work, and the pieces literally were welded together, so it was really a very thin, very thin structure.