An Urban Implosion
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."
3 comments:
I stayed at Arcosanti last summer. They had a great pool, beautiful grounds, and terrible food.
I caught a scorpion in my room and put it in a glass overnight and there were tarantulas on the doorstep. I still liked it there and would go back. I think Soleri still gives an audience once a week. He also has another facility near Scottsdale, I think, called "Cosanti."
I visited Arcosanti about a decade ago, although I didn't spend the night. At the time, it was actually a functioning commune, with the building labor being contributed by the communards themselves. I wonder if it still works this way? I was impressed by the whole idea and toyed with the idea of joining the community. It's just off the highway that connects Phoenix and Flagstaff as I recall....
--W.M. Bear
I missed it when I was in Arizona in 2003. I'd love to have a look around.
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