American Ingenuity 40′ dome home featured on Film Garden Entertainment
Film Garden Entertainment of California put together a television program for Home and Garden TV and wanted to include our geodesic dome. A TV crew spent a day filming our office and manufacturing facility along with two local dome residences. They also interviewed Michael and Glenda for many hours about the dome concept, manufacturing and assembly of our domes. The program Insiders List aired in August 2004. The theme of the program was the top 10 innovative prefab homes throughout the world. It ranged from “Wee Houses” in the Midwest that were 18′ x 24′ x 10′ to million dollar prefab penthouse modules placed on purchased rooftop spaces in London. American Ingenuity was privileged to be ranked number 9 on the list.
40 ‘ dome linked to 30 garage dome on Inside Edition.
Inside Edition: On September 11, 1998, Inside Edition, a syndicated TV show led off with a segment on our geodesic domes. The theme of the segment revolved around the super strength of our domes and how they withstand hurricane forces. The reporter and two man camera crew first went to Miami and interviewed the owners of a dome that survived a direct hit from hurricane Andrew. Views of the Menendezes’ beautiful interior were shown but the inspiring stories of the horse trailer and tornado slamming the dome got edited. They then drove up to our corporate offices. The segment went on to show our five dome complex including the component panels being made in the factory. The next stop was to view domes under construction in Melbourne, a 34′ home linked to a 22′ garage. Also of interest was the interior metal framing and metal floor joists.
The program director had previously asked us for a way to illustrate the domes ability to withstand hurricane force winds. Short of calling up a 200 mph wind and filming the real thing, the next best option is a computer finite analysis. The computer simulated a force equal to 230 mph winds. Our dome stood rock solid. In fact, to see the movement in the dome, the deflection had to be magnified 50 times. A square structure was also modeled but it collapsed with 150 mph winds.
A completed dome home was the next stop. After videoing the house and the dog dome, the reporter, Stephen Gendel, asked for an egg. While on screen he took his best shot at squeezing it to death. They departed shortly thereafter knowing that they had a good story and I can tell you with certainty, they were impressed.
About a week after the program aired we got a call from the New York office. They specifically called to tell us that they had received a flood of calls from people trying to get in touch with us. For viewers to call us directly they had to figure out the city and area code on their own. One lady reported that the long distance information operator knew our number by heart.
