Richard (Dick) Fischbeck was born in upstate New York, the middle child o f seven.
His initial introduction to alternative structures was cultivated on the camping trips he took with his family where he learned about environmental conservation and became adept at activities such as f ishing, building campfires and pitching tents. These skills were further strengthened in his years as a member of the Boy Scouts. He had a knack for fixing things around the house and his interest in living structures grew over the years.
Dick was introduced to geodesics at the 1967 Expo in Montreal where BuckminsterFuller’s biosphere dome was exhibited. Upon earning a B.A. in Geology at the University of Vermont in 1976, Dick chose to spend four years living throughout the U.S. in a tipi. In the 1980s and 90s he worked in all areas of the construction industry from hanging wallpaper and installing water towers to blasting and surveying. In 2000 after a run of bad luck he was left homeless for a year.
It was during this time that he first experimented with the design of a living structure using vertex elements and built the first RanDome out of galvanized steel on a friend’s property. He lived in the RanDome through the winter until he was able to get back on his feet. Dick has spent years studying Mr. Fuller’s synergetic theories and tensegrity designs as well as practicing Fuller’s philosopies in his daily life. His thorough understanding of these principles, his personal bout with homelessness and his compassion for those in need led to the invention of the ultra low-cost RanDome – so simple it requires only a pictorial instruction manual, making it easily assembled by anyone in need of shelter such as the indigent poor or natural disaster victims.
RanDome was granted a patent in 2008. Upon learning this, Allegra Fuller Snyder, daughter of the late Bucky Fuller, invited Dick to Bear Island to demonstrate the RanDome method to various members of „Bucky’s“ extended family, including Bucky’s great-grandchildren. Dick is currently on the teaching staff at the Mount View Elementary School in Unity, Maine. He is an enthusiastic curler at Maine’s only curling club.
