An Urban Implosion

Erin Shaw
arcosanti large.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While many efforts toward conservation focus on making transportation more efficient, Paolo Soleri’s urban laboratory, Arcosanti, demonstrates that biology holds the answer to our conservation woes. His alternative to urban sprawl is based on evolution and likens the cityscape to an evolving organism: “In nature, as an organism evolves, it increases complexity, and it also becomes a more compact or miniaturized system. The city too . . . must follow the same process of complexification and miniaturization to become a more lively container for the social, cultural and spiritual evolution of humankind.”

Essentially, Soleri proposes that condensing where you work, live, and play will drastically reduce your impact on the environment while helping to reinstate a sense of community and connection to nature. Located in the Arizona high desert, Arcosanti forms the prototype for Soleri's vision of a condensed city, but like vertical farming, its practical application has yet to be fully realized. Construction of Arcosanti began in 1970 and still continues today. Criticized as a “moldering relic of impractical idealism,” Arcosanti has not exactly been financially sustainable. Work is slow because Soleri has a reputation of making no compromises and, according to some critics, because there is not much to offer for potential investors.

Despite the criticism, Arcosanti may become a template for city planning as sustainability moves to the forefront of consciousness. Soleri’s vision of a city in harmony with nature may not fully materialize in his lifetime, but the foundations are laid for an urban implosion.

Creative Commons image: Cody R on Flickr

Comments

It's true

Submitted by Erin Shaw on Wed, 12/05/2007 - 23:06.

Writing this made me think of whether Soleri's supposed uncompromising attitude is good or bad, especially if he wants the rest of the world to catch on. The New York Times travel article indicated that other Arizona residents think Arcosanti is a cult and that the project is a failure because it's perpetually incomplete, but I like that he hasn't sold out.

 Erin Shaw

A seventies Arcosanti alumnus speaks

Submitted by Andrew Stone on Thu, 12/06/2007 - 12:54.

In 1975, as a young solar adobe sustainable architect student, I worked at Arcosanti one summer. Urban sprawl was already an issue, and Paolo's ideas seemed so timely and right on then. I learned a lot about community and process, and his architectural and community planning ideas that have greatly impacted my life as a designer/builder and later as a software engineer.

 

Result-oriented culture misses that it's the journey not the destination. Anything that challenges the status quo is dismissed as a cult (Are all cults bad? Pythagorus had one!)

 

Perhaps the true test of the pudding was a few years ago when I was able to take my teenage daughter to Arcosanti. As an 'alumnus', I had free range of the entire site so we roamed here and there poking around and getting the groove of scene, which was warm and wholesome. How refreshing to come face to face with my original teenage optimism, and to see the progress over the decades. Thousands like me have been there and have been indelibly marked by the ideas that an alternate reality is possible, and gone out into the world to begin its implementation.

 

Be the change you want to see in the world!

It's probably best to visit

Submitted by Erin Shaw on Fri, 12/07/2007 - 14:13.
What's interesting is that the cult comment was made by a McDonald's employee who had probably never been there. The NY Times travel article, "Sippping from a Utopian Well in the Desert" had an ultimately positive spin on the place, but as the Arcosanti website says, it is an experience.

block parties

Submitted by steely on Fri, 12/07/2007 - 10:44.
my problem with arcosanti is that it reeks of the biosphere project. it is too far removed from real cities. instead of starting from scratch, why not start with your own street to create a "lively container for the social, cultural and spiritual evolution of humankind.” ? the typical NYC block party affords a glimpse of what could be every day: convivial, interactive and spontaneous places where you never know who you might meet, what might be said, or what might happen. with a little invested energy and vision, these commonplace events could be a useful springboard for something more permanent and wonderful.

Demonstrastion poject

Submitted by Antonio Lopez on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 05:23.
I love Arcosanti (it harks a bit to Planet of the Apes). It's a wonderful place to visit and it has a really nice gallery with informative graphics about the state of our ecology. I have known many people who have lived and worked there. I have visited a half dozen times. I don't think it's realistic to think of this as something that will actually exist in the future, but it's more of a laboratory of the now. They also host conferences and concerts. I don't think there is a general view of what Arizonans think of the place-- there are too many different types of people there to generalize. As Republican and conservative as Arizona is, surprisingly there are lots of really interesting experimental spaces there as well. Something about the desert. Anyhow, I recommend reading Paulo Solari. My favorite book, The Bridge Between Matter and Spirit, is out of print, but you can find it ob Amazon.

Great Book

Submitted by Erin Shaw on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 16:10.

I referred to that book a lot, but I could barely scratch the surface of Arcology here. My favorite essays are "Going to Nowhere, Anyone?" and "Civitate Dei."

 

"Man can be a disruptive force by default or by intent, but he can be a constructive force only by intent."

My favorite quote

Submitted by Antonio Lopez on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 17:12.

Here's my favorite quote:

To cultivate one's soul is then the quest that will back up the skills of the eyes, the ears, the hands and the body with the synthetic power of the mind and ultimately will cast aside the cages of separateness. Separateness is a peculiar invention of man and it is a menace to his position within the evolving universe. Small or large, the individual work is a contribution toward or an inquiry on the body of the species. The responsibility is personal and awesome and the punishment is as intrinsic to the performance as much as are the rewards. Each of us is a universal man or woman because we all are of the universe. To neglect this is purely to neglect oneself, a neglect that kills.

Paolo Soleri (p.224-5)

the way out is UP^! & in more, like a Sequoia Tree!

Submitted by moshido on Wed, 12/12/2007 - 08:02.

Wonderful post! Soleri's ideas are amazing and right on! One of his mentors is Teilhard de Chardin. P. Soleri is implementing and developing many of Teilhard's ideas. As to us right now, yes, the quickest thing to do is start living, working, playing and growing food in the same place. A 3-D shaped city will just emerge out of thinking about and using the Vertical dimension more. Grow food on all the roofs and lawns and empty spaces everywhere. Take all the one story retail stores on Main St., Santa Moncia, CA. All the retail workers can just move upstairs to new apt.'s. If all the staff, faculty, and students at UCLA just moved onto the campus? What are they waiting for?! Arcosanti is just a test-bed, template, proto-type, experiment. If Google had moved it's 10,000 new employees there, it would be a success already! What's the hold up here? Live, Work, Play, Grow food where ever we are...The energy crises is now over... Soleri was designing Space Stations/Arks way early. circa, 1969. Asteromo/Ovum II