Arcosanti

Visited 2017.11.13
Arcosanti, Arizona

Arcosanti is the late, Italian-American architect Paulo Soleri’s utopian, experimental mini-city. Built in the Arizona desert, about 70 miles north of Phoenix, it was an an attempt at realizing his concept of arcology (architecture and ecology).

arcosanti.org

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Bronze Soleri windbells available for purchase.

Construction began in 1970, and continues to the present — although the last major building added to the site was completed in 1989. At the time of my visit, around 65 people of all ages were living and working in the city, some having done so for decades. At its height, the community had 150 members. As it was and continues to be, it’s mostly home to students who live on-site as they take the educational seminars and workshops offered by Arcosanti.

The city is funded by donations, tours, workshop fees, on-site event hosting, and the sale of hand-crafted ceramic and bronze Soleri windbells, created by the community’s trained artisans.

From my experience, I got the impression that the place had seen better days. The well-traveled road to enter was so rough I thought it would take my vehicle apart before I reached the city. So the visit was not off to a great start.

Upon entering the visitor’s center, it was evident that some of the building, like the floor devoted to the closed bakery, was in disuse. And as I was toured around, it was pointed out that lots of spaces with other intended uses had been converted to living quarters. Efforts at farming had been abandoned as well, for the most part. But people seemed to be in good spirits, and while no new buildings were being added, there was some construction underway to implement small improvements.

A part of me wondered if I could have given the place a go as a resident. With my background and experience in things like construction, mechanical repairs, farming, and art/design, I probably could have made myself useful. But the thought of living down the hill with all the newbies, in one of the small, unair-conditioned concrete cubes they were housed in, was not very appealing.

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Soleri leading a discussion with workshoppers in the Ceramics Apse at Arcosanti, ca. 1976–77. Sourced from a book I purchased from the gift shop, Repositioning Paolo Soleri: The City is Nature (2017).

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The Ceramics Apse

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Preparations for a bronze pour.

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Pouring bronze bells.

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This gentleman who was in the small three person tour group with me, had actually traveled to Arcosanti in the 1970s to live and work there, and promptly left after deciding it was too unlikely to succeed. This was his first time back.

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Living Quarters

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Preparations for an event — one source of income for Arcosanti.

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The crane that was used to stand the structures at Arcosanti. I'd be surprised if it still worked.

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Not sure what this was about, but I came across it when wandering through the residents' parking area. Had a gun turret on the roof, and read "Starfighter Command" on the side.