The recovery efforts on Maui continue unceasingly as families, homes, and businesses rise from the ashes, exhaustion, and grief caused by the wildfires of August 2023. “Everyone’s overwhelmed,” said Tapani Vuori, general manager of the Maui Ocean Center in Makawao. “It took more than a month to get things coordinated and cohesive. We had forty volunteers, but at first, the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) simply were not ready.”

When Typhoon Mawar hit Guam in May 2023, all of Stanley Hall and Linda Tatreau’s neighbors left the area, but Linda decided to stay at Tasi Dome. Stanley had traveled to San Diego, and Linda and her two dogs, Enzo and Thunder, rode out the strongest typhoon to hit Guam since 2002. The couple have been living in Tasi Dome on Guam for the past 11 years, and Linda feels safer there than anywhere else. “It’s strong in storms,” Linda said. “That’s why we built it.”

On August 24, 2023, we sent Javier Figueroa and his crew to North Carolina to begin construction of a new Monolithic Dome home for the Bonea family. The Boneas have had dome dreams for many years. Ion (pronounced Jon) Bonea told us he first became interested in domes almost 30 years ago after visiting us here at the Monolithic Dome Institute Research Park in Italy, Texas.

The adventurous entrepreneurs at the Fall 2023 Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop learned skills to create their own homes, and some of them also discovered a shared passion for bringing these sturdy, sustainable structures to their communities as affordable housing.

Stonebridge is one of the first Monolithic Dome homes ever built. Constructed in 1980 by dome pioneer Jack Boyt, the home was in desperate need of renovation. In September 2022, I sent my guys to West Des Moines, Iowa, to install metal cladding.

In 2008, a wildfire burned a house to the ground in Santa Barbara, California. From furniture to photographs, everything was destroyed. The homeowners replaced it with a stunning, freeform, thin-shell structure. Jeff Shelton designed the 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home and the homeowner covered the home with intricate designs set in ceramic tiles. Read more of the story on Insider.com or view the architect’s Shell House photo gallery.