Buckminster Fuller's approach to domes was that they should be made from factory-made components made to tight tolerances, made from modern materials - Fiberglas panels, aluminum connectors, and neoprene gaskets. Such parts are cheap when made in bulk. Domes made that way hold up very well. Some radomes in the Arctic have been surviving winters for 50-60 years now.
The hippie dome movement, as led by Kahn, encouraged do-it-yourself dome making from "natural" or even found materials. This doesn't work as well. A dome has a huge number of edge joints, all of which are exposed to weather. Making them leakproof is hard. Making them leakproof without tight tolerances is very hard. The best solution the hippie movement ever achieved was to nail shingles over the whole dome. Windows presented even worse problems.
A more subtle problem was discovered later. Although the basic geometry of a dome is simple, what happens to a dome when sunlight heats one side but not the other isn't. Large internal stresses develop, and this cycling from relative expansion tends to cause leaks at joints.
The rubber connector is a nice part. It should grab tighter as the struts are bent from flat to the dome shape. Getting the last struts connected, though, might be a pain.