We made this as part of our MArTH Madness mathematical art festival at Saint Ann’s. Dozens of students and teachers worked together to build 60 metanodes out of Zome. Then about 15 people worked together to piece them together into an even larger rhombicosidodecahedron. It’s a Zome ball made out of zome balls made out of zome balls!!! It stands about 5.5 feet tall, and its now resting safely in our basement art gallery.
A Zome node made from Zome nodes made from Zome nodes!
A student’s picture, found on instagram
To actually construct it, we built the top first, and then lifted it to build beneath so that the weight would hold the struts together during construction. In the end we held the dome up and slid the bottom underneath it. Amazingly, it held together in front of a big, cheering crowd.
I love MArTH Madness. We’ve been thinking about this model for a while, and to see it actually finished feels amazing. As one student put it, “It’s like we wanted to do it, and then we did it, and now it’s done.” I love that.
Update: Justin posted a fantastic video showing the different node sizes. Enjoy!
Paul Salomon
Lost In Recursion 
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