Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/159763/paolo-soleris-arcosanti-the-ci...

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Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man

03
Sep 2011
By Oscar Lopez Filed under: Articles ,Educational ,Theory and History ,Urban Design ,Urban Planning , Arcology, Arizona, Broadacre City, Ecology, Frank Lloyd
Wright, Scottsdale, Taliesin West, USA

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Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/159763/paolo-soleris-arcosanti-the-ci...

www.arcosanti.org

70 miles north of Phoenix, in central Arizona lies an experimental town created by Paolo Soleri, intended to house 5,000 people. Arcosanti is the study of the concept of
arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. The intensions of this community is to form a gestalt that houses the relations and interactions that living organisms have
with respect to each other and their natural environment.

One of the most imaginative thinkers of our time, Paolo Soleri has dedicated his life to addressing the ecological and social concerns raised by modern urban existence.
Soleris career contains significant accomplishments in the fields of architecture and urban planning, and his groundbreaking philosophical writings on arcology, the
co-presence of architecture with ecology, continues to garner interest globally.

Alfonso Elia

Born in 1919 in Turin, Italy, Soleri spent his earliest years absorbing the European landscape, culture, and architecture. He received his Ph.D. in Architecture from Torino

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Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/159763/paolo-soleris-arcosanti-the-ci...

Polytechnico in 1946. Soon after graduating, Dr. Soleri moved to the United States to attend Frank Lloyd Wrights apprenticeship program at Taliesin West in Arizona.

Master Plan

Soleri returned to Italy in 1950, where he was commissioned to design a large ceramics factory, Ceramic Artistica Solimene, which is now an Italian historical landmark.
During this time he began working as a ceramic artist, acquiring the ceramics knowledge he would later apply to producing windbells. Over the next fifty years, these
ceramic windbells, along with his explorations in metal casting with bronze windbells and sculptural commissions, would serve as the major source of funding for the
construction that would test his theoretical works.

Section 01

Together with his wife Colly and their two daughters, Kristine and Daniela, Soleri moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1956. There they established the not-for-profit Cosanti
Foundation and began work on the group of buildings that bears the same name, Cosanti. It is at Cosanti where Soleri began his initial architectural experiments with various
earth-casting techniques.

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Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/159763/paolo-soleris-arcosanti-the-ci...

Tomiaki Tamura

In 1970, Paolo Soleri embarked on what is his most ambitious work, Arcosanti. Located in the high desert of central Arizona, Arcosanti is being constructed as a prototype
arcology. Arcosanti is a materialization of arcology theoretics; the community embodies Soleris vision for a sustainable urban alternative. Since its inception in 1970, the
development and construction of Arcosanti has been at the center of Soleris life and work.

Model 01

Arcology is Paolo Soleris concept for cities that embody the co-presence of architecture and ecology. The arcology concept proposes a highly integrated and compact three-
dimensional urban form that is the opposite of suburban sprawl, with its inherently wasteful consumption of resources and tendency to isolate people from each other and the
community. The miniaturization of the physical environment of the city enables effective conservation of land, energy and resources.

Traditionally, an arcology is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design hyperstructure habitats of extremely high human population density. An arcology
is distinguished from a merely large building or habitat in that it is supposed to sustainably supply all or most of the resourses for comfortable life: power, climate control,
food production air and water purification, sewage treatment, etc.. It is supposed to supply these items for a large population. Also, an arcology would need no connections to
municipal or urban infrastructure in order to operate.

Conceptual Design 01

Arcologies were proposed to reduce human impacts on natural resources. Arcology designs often apply conventional building and civil engineering techniques in very large,
but practical projects in order to achieve economies that are difficult to achieve in other ways. Frank Lloyd Wright proposed an early version with his Broadacre City.

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Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man | ArchDaily http://www.archdaily.com/159763/paolo-soleris-arcosanti-the-ci...

Conceptual Design 02

His plan described transportation, agriculture, and commerce systems that would support an economy. Similar to Soleris Arcosanti, Broadacre City faced critics who said
that their proposed solution failed to account the realistic problems that come with sustaining a habitat of a large population and also they tried to assume a more rigid way of
living and democracy than that of independent means and that of a formalized government.

Conceptual Design 03

The problem I am confronting is the present design of cities only a few stories high, stretching outward in unwieldy sprawl for miles. As a result of their sprawl, they
literally transform the earth, turn farms into parking lots and waste enormous amounts of time and energy transporting people, goods and services over their expanses. My
proposition is urban implosion rather than explosion.

-Paolo Soleri, Earths Answer, 1977

Todays typical city devotes more than half of its land to the function of the automobile. In anarcology, automobiles are eliminated from the confines of the city. The
multi-use nature of the buildings in arcology design place living, working and public spaces within easy reach of each other, thus walking becomes the main form of
transportation within the city.

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Conceptual Design 04

An arcologys direct proximity to uninhabited land provides the city dweller with immediate and low-impact access to rural space, as well as allowing agriculture to be
situated near the city. In turn, this maximizes the logistical efficiency of food distribution systems. An arcology uses passive solar architectural techniques such as the apse
effect, greenhouse architecture, and garment architecture to reduce the energy usage of the city, particularly in relation to heating, lighting, and cooling.

Solar Performance Diagram

Overall, arcology seeks to exemplify a Lean Alternative to hyper-consumption and wastefulness through more frugal, efficient and intelligent city design.

Arcology is capable of demonstrating a positive response to the many problems of urban civilization, those of population, pollution, energy and natural resource depletion,
food scarcity, and quality of life. The city structure must contract, or miniaturize, in order to support the complex activities that sustain human culture and give it new
perception and renewed trust in society and its future. A central tenet of arcology is that the city is the necessary instrument for the evolution of humankind.

-Paolo Soleri, Earths Answer, 1977

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James Horecka, AIA

In 1970, Paolo Soleri and the Cosanti Foundation began construction on Arcosanti, an urban laboratory in the high desert of central Arizona. Designed according to the
concept of arcology, Arcosanti will house 5,000 people when complete, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions and lessen our negative impact on the earth. Its
large, compact structures and large-scale solar greenhouses will occupy only 25 acres of a 4,060-acre land preserve, keeping the natural countryside in close proximity to
urban dwellers.

James Horecka, AIA

Urban sprawl, spreading across the landscape, causes enormous waste, frustration, and long-term costs by depleting land and resources. Dependency on the automobile
intensifies these problems, while increasing pollution, congestion, and social isolation. Arcosanti attempts to address these issues by building a three-dimensional, pedestrian-
oriented city. Because this plan eliminates sprawl, both the urban and natural environments keep their integrity and thrive. Arcosanti is a prototype: if successful, it will
become a model for how the world builds its cities.

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Youngsoo Kim

According to Soleris theory of arcology, at Arcosanti many systems work together, with efficient circulation of people and resources, multi-use buildings, and solar
orientation for lighting, heating and cooling. In this complex environment, apartments, businesses, production, technology, open space, studios, educational and cultural
events are all accessible, even while privacy is paramount in the overall design.

www.arcosanti.org

Arcosanti is an educational center. The five-week workshop program teaches building techniques and arcological philosophy while continuing construction. Volunteers and
students come from around the world, experiencing Arcosanti through hands-on participation in its growth and development. Many are design students and some receive
university credit for the workshop. However, a design or architecture background is not necessary.

Ken Howie

At the present stage of construction, Arcosanti consists of a dozen mixed-use buildings constructed by 6,000 past workshop participants. These buildings house 60 to 80
residents, who are continually working on the construction and maintenance of the built environment. These longterm residents are workshop alumni, and work in planning,
construction, landscaping, maintenance, cooking, carpentry, metal work, ceramics, gardening, communications, and administration. They produce the world-famous Soleri
Bells and are visited by 50,000 tourists every year.

References: www.Arcosanti.org
Photography: www.Arcosanti.org

www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org Alfonso Elia

Ken Howie www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

James Horecka, AIA James Horecka, AIA Youngsoo Kim

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www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

Tomiaki Tamura www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org www.arcosanti.org

Master Plan Section 01 Section 02

Solar Performance Diagram Conceptual Design 01 Conceptual Design 02

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Conceptual Design 03 Conceptual Design 04 Conceptual Design 05

Conceptual Design 06 Conceptual Design 07 Conceptual Design 08

Model 01 Model 02 Model 03

Conceptual Design 09 Map of Ecumenopoly Map of Arcology

Imagery 2012 DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, USDA Farm Service Agency -

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Cite:
Lopez , Oscar . "Paolo Soleris Arcosanti : The City in the Image of Man" 03 Sep 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 13 Apr 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/159763>

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