Paolo Soleri, Arcosanti

Born in Turin, Italy on June 21, 1919, Paolo Soleri was awarded his Ph.D. with highest honors in architecture from the Torino Polytechnico in 1946. He came to the United States in 1947 on a fellowship with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Arizona, and at Taliesin East in Wisconsin. His major project is Arcosanti, a prototype town for 5,000 people, under construction since 1970. Located at Cordes Junction, in central Arizona, the project is based on Soleri’s concept of “Arcology,” architecture coherent with ecology. His proposed cities would be for people on foot, not designed around automobiles, compact and three-dimensional, not two-dimensional, that is, not flat and scattered over large distances. Arcology advocates cities designed to maximize the interaction and accessibility associated with an urban environment; minimize the use of energy, raw materials and land, reducing waste and environmental pollution; and allow interaction with the surrounding natural environment.

Arcosanti: www.arcosanti.org