Before his much-praised Municipal Auditorium concert in June, hipster Jack White visited two sanctified Shreveport sites. One was George’s Grill, for a burger and golden fries, and one was a photo op outside the Centenary Gold Dome.

Ahem: the Gold Dome?

Few under the age of legal hippies would relate. The geodesic dome was symbolic of a brave new world in the late 60’s. The Whole Earth Catalog was a bible for counterculturists. An engineer-philosopher named R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1983) was honored like Steve Jobs.

“Inspired by the work of Buckminster Fuller, by the 1970s the hand-built geodesic dome had become synonymous with back-to-the-land communities. Publications such The Whole Earth Catalog and Popular Science magazine helped disseminate building instructions. A Colorado artists’ community called Drop City constructed domes for residents of the commune from recycled materials—“the garbage of America,” says MoMa.org.

A geodesic dome is a spherical shell structure based on a network of great circles (geodesics) on the surface of a sphere. The geodesics intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the structure.

Such structures worked well in large, industrial applications. The best known domes of the 60’s were a pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in NYC and the Expo 67 building at the Montreal World’s Fair. The 18-story Spaceship Earth ce nter at Epcot Center was built by Disney in 1982.

When he patented the geodesic structure in 1954, Fuller “hoped that the geodesic dome would help address the postwar housing crisis.” While Fuller lived in a dome in Carbondale, Illinois, the average long-haired dome dweller came to realize that the design was impractical. One example was the common problem of roof leaks.

Centenary College’s aluminum-roofed dome was built in 1971. Designed by Somdal, Smitherman and Associates, the building has been maintained in exemplary style. It was refurbished in 2001. Among those who have entertained in the 3500-seat dome at Centenary: Ronald Reagan, Rosalyn Carter, Eudora Welty, Ross Perot, Michael DeBakey, Ray Bradbury, Barry Manilow, and John Denver.

One fan of Buckminster Fuller who has not been celebrated until lately is Detroit resident Leo Gillis. He lived in a hand-made geodesic dome for years – but has sold it. Leo Gillis has a famous brother. The brother is a guitar slinger who calls himself Jack White.