Plate-type domes are usually described as domes, totally or partly consisting of planes with more than 3 edges, braced by structural cladding such as plates or by bars in a triangular pattern. It seems that this concept may be extended to regarding the plate dome, or plate structure in general, as an independent and just as basic a structural family as the lattice structure, so basic in fact that it is the exact dual of the lattice structure. The word dual should be taken literally, i.e. all relevant qualities may be mutually and unambiguously transferred on all levels, maintaining the amount of information.

The modern lattice dome has, not least because of its material-efficient qualities been popular ever since it appeared in the 19th century, and through all these years it has been intensively described. Makowski et al. gives an excellent survey of the topic. However it seems odd that its geometrical and statical contrary, the plate dome, which is just as interesting a kind of structure, has been only vaguely described. The subject seems to invite to a much more comprehensive research, than what has been done so far. Some of the knowledge collected until now will be dealt with in the following. Guidelines for the research, indications of the special statical and geometrical properties, and the dual relations to the lattice structure will be given. Two examples on domes based on plates will be analysed, and one of them is, for want of man made plate domes, taken from the living nature.

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