The rain continued. It was a hard rain, a perpetual rain, a sweating and steaming rain; it was a mizzle, a downpour, a fountain, a whipping at the eyes, an undertow at the ankles; it was a rain to drown all rains and the memory of rains. It came by the pound and the ton, it hacked at the jungle and cut the trees like scissors and shaved the grass and tunneled the soil and molted the bushes. It shrank men’s hands into the hands of wrinkled apes; it rained a solid glassy rain, and it never stopped.

“How much farther, Lieutenant?”

“I don’t know. A mile, ten miles, a thousand.”

“Aren’t you sure?”

“How can I be sure?”

“I don’t like this rain. If we only knew how far it is to the Sun Dome, I’d feel better.”

-- excerpt from: The Long Rain by Ray Bradbury

Several years ago I enjoyed reading Ray Bradbury’s short story The Long Rain. (find it here)

It’s a story of a small expedition crew lost on a rainy planet in search of the Sun Dome, an outpost of warmth and comfort.

Around the same time I was experimenting with Blender 3D rendering software and attending music and art festivals regularly.

The above image is a piece of concept art I created depicting Ray Bradbury’s Sun Dome as I imagined it for an art festival installation.

The sun hanging from the center of the dome would be built to emit enough radiant heat via internal heating to keep the dome at a comfortable temperature during cold nights.

Around the perimeter of the dome, amber spotlights would be installed pointing towards the sun, similar to the arrangement of a disco ball installation. The sun’s surface would be need to be coated with heat resistant white paint to reflect light and withstand powerful radiant heat.

The structure would be based on a standard geodesic steel frame, and if cost were no object, it would be fitted with triangular glass panels.

Not pictured in this rendering is a collection of furniture and period decor matching the vintage space age theme that recurs throughout Bradbury’s literary universe. Perhaps a coffee/hot chocolate station (as described in the story) and small library stocked with science fiction literature, featuring the works of Mr Bradbury.