Staying at Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde and feeling so much better it was time to go see those places on my wish list that were nearby.
I have always loved to read books but years ago I discovered a passion for magazines. When we had a house with a permanent address I subscribed to so many that it seemed like there was at least one in the mailbox every day. There was a magazine for every interest. Gardening, traveling, architecture, anything you could want. When we started to travel I could still have my books but those magazines were gone. That is until I discovered that I could get my favorites online without even a subscription. In the spirit of trying not to sit in front of the computer for hours there are only 2 that I check out regularly.......Sunset and Architectural Digest. They both have so many places I want to go.
About a year ago there was an article in Architectural Digest about Arcosanti. It made it to my wish list. Only about 30 miles down the road.......here we go.
Arcosanti is a dream of a Utopian Metropolis rising out of the desert. The dreamer was Paolo Soleri, an Italian Architect and artist. Soleri worked under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Arizona. He returned to Italy for a time and then in 1956 settled permanently in the United States in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he established the Cosanti Foundation. He designed a city both to conserve the natural surroundings and to intensify the human activities of living and working by condensing them spatially. The resulting integrated, total environments Soleri hoped, would provide for all the needs of rational, aesthetic human beings.
There is an unpaved road to get to Arcosanti but in the city itself there are no roads.
Construction began in 1970 with a goal of housing 5000 but there usually is only a population of around 100. Construction is only about 5% complete.
Each year, 50,000 people from all over the world visit Arcosanti. University students come to study design and sustainability staying in the many living quarters while attending the workshops. Concerts and festivals are held in its amphitheater. Some visitors even rent guest rooms and stay overnight.
Those attending the workshops assist with the continuing construction. Some have come and stayed. Our guide said the longest resident has been there 30 years. The program attracts many who are interested in art, crafts, architecture and urban planning, but it is also a connection to those interested in philosophy, sociology, science, and agriculture. Our guide was originally from the Bronx in New York eventually coming to Arizona and Arcosanti after graduating from college with a Business and Communications degree.
Soleri’s concept is called “Arcology.” He stated it was architecture in tune with ecology. Arcology advocates cities designed to maximize the interaction and accessibility associated with an urban environment; minimize the use of energy, raw materials, and land, that reduces waste and environmental pollution; and allows interaction with the surrounding natural environment.
Most building features are particular to the design and construction of Arcosanti. For example, tilt-up concrete panels are cast in a bed of silt acquired from the surrounding area, giving the concrete a unique texture and color that helps it blend with the landscape. Many panels were cast with embedded art.
Most buildings are oriented southward to capture the sun's light and heat — roof designs admit the maximum amount of sunlight in the winter and a minimal amount during the summer. The structure that shelters the ceramic workshop is built in the form of an apse, a quarter-sphere or semi-dome. The structures behind the doors were once very small apartments but are now used as storage for the ceramic supplies.
The city’s most striking feature is maybe the apse of its bronze foundry, where Soleri bells are cast. The apse resembles quarter-sphere hollows of Romanesque cathedrals where the center gives way to side chapels. Soleri’s apse faces south. It fills with shade in summer, light in winter.
The sale of the bells partially funds the continuing building of Arcosanti.
The Paolo Soleri bells are sold primarily at the Cosanti Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ and at Arcosanti. They also can be purchased online.. Each one is a work of art and the sound is unique and soothing.
This is one of the molds used for each bell with a sand-casting method. The foundry crew works daily making the bells. Hot bronze is poured into each of the molds and at this time of the year their work schedule begins very early in the morning in an attempt to beat the heat.
There are large shaded areas called The Vaults. They are the midpoint of the Arcosanti site and designed to accommodate large gatherings or where just a few can meet. The young man in the photo was our guide.
There is a large amphitheater that has hosted such varied events as Shakespeare, jazz, bluegrass and indie folk-rock, experimental dance, a stilt-walking circus, and a 3-day modern music festival.
The amphitheater is ringed by living quarters and the residents can watch the performances right from their own homes. Speaking of the residents. When you come to stay you start out in "shared" housing. The longer you stay you can move up to your own private apartment.
Those who live here are expected to work here, either in construction, the greenhouses, landscaping, in composting and recycling, in the on site cafe, in the foundry, in the ceramic studio, or many other jobs that keep the "city" going. And it is not just manual labor. They have workshops with up to date technology including a 3D printer that our guide was excited about a project he had just completed.
Soleri valued hard work but that does not mean that the residents don't have their own sense of style.
This is what is left of one of Soleri's vision for an airport. Think of it flat, hovering over a body of water the guide said. All I could think of was "Star Wars."
They have a nice pool to cool off in after a hot day or work or long hours in a workshop. Arcosanti is perched on an underground aquifer; they harvest rain water from the roofs of their buildings and practice conservation religiously. I was absolutely baffled that the pond you see below the pool is their black water waste that is being cleaned in the algae pond. Apparently there is no odor.
The people living here are not seeing the cracked concrete slabs and fading paint, but something altogether more beautiful. They have caught Soleri's vision.
I appreciate Walt being happy to spend the time letting me explore this interesting place. I know he is one of those that sees the cracked concrete and the faded paint and can't imagine the lives of those that have chosen to make it home and continue to pursue the dream of a Utopia in the desert. I can understand and appreciate their commitment and hope they continue to make their dream come alive. I will be the first to admit I couldn't do it. Number one.............shared living quarters......uh uh. But the idea of living, working, playing, learning in a very small footprint with energy conservation makes a lot of sense to me.
While only a sliver of Soleri's vision has been completed the dedicated carry on towards the future.