Paolo Soleri & Arcosanti

[stextbox id=’info’ caption=’Paolo Soleri (1919-2013)’]Soleri, born in Turin, came to the US in 1946 and briefly studied with Frank Lloyd Wright before falling-out with the world-famous architect over Wright’s promotion of low-rise suburbias.  To his many disciples Soleri was a revered as an “architect-philosopher”, but his critics lampooned him as “the best known architect who never built anything”.  His magnum opus – “Arcology: The City in the Image of Man” (MIT,1969) – was a mesmerising book of 60cm wide pages filled with intricate renditions of fantasy cities like Babeldiga, Novanoah, Babelnoah, and others given similarly grandiose names.  In it he took the ostensibly reasonable idea of 3D enclosed cities and maxed-it up into vastly gargantuan visionary structures like the 6 million inhabitant “Babelnoah”.  Arcology was a thrilling futuristic prophecy for idealistic 1970s architectural students but sadly, and inexplicably,  the environmental movement has (to the best of my knowledge) ever considered the pro’s and con’s of Arcologies.    The short-lived 1970’s fascination with Arcology came and went before its time – the idea became forgotten well before before the enormous current interest in sustainable living, “saving the planet”, and eco-cities.  By promoting relatively modest-sized – and arguably affordable – Oasis-Cities I am hoping to resurrect an idea which could even save Western civilisation

Soleri doodled with and designed arcologies of many shapes, each specifically tailored for different physical sites.  But he never settled on a particular template and, most surprisingly of all, never once advocated pyramids as the ideal physical form for an Arcology, especially considering that a sloping profile is ideal for solar and water collecting.  Considering his concern with sustainability, he didn’t say much about renewable energy either, but solar and wind power technology were in their infancy in the ’70’s and only became commercially viable quite recently.  But why not water harvesting and water re-cycling, especially for someone who was very familiar with desert environments..?  

Another thing Soleri definitely didn’t think important was a comfortable lifestyle, like the simple pleasure of relaxing on a patio with a glass of wine whilst taking in a panoramic view. Or a good social lifestyle with a choice of many bars, cafes, restaurants, etc.  All of which will flourish in OA-Cities, especially as nobody will have to drive home..!   He seemed obsessed with “miniaturisation” which, in Arcosanti, meant “tiny mostly windowless apartments” (an Australian TV reporter described them as “like monks cells”), hard-work and the necessity for everyone to adopt his own frugal lifestyle. 

Needless to say, ascetism does not sell..!

“If you had told me fifty years ago that I would finance the building of Arcosanti  from the proceeds of windbells, I would have said you were crazy.” Paolo Soleri

The windowless and non-airconditioned residential units in his largely moribund “Arcosanti” experimental community (“urban laboratory”) in Arizona were described by a visiting Australian film crew as “tiny as monks cells and almost as frugal”

[stextbox id=’info’ caption=’FRUGALITY ‘] Soleri practiced frugality and expected his many enthusiastic “disciples” – unpaid student volunteers who helped both with the building of Arcosanti and the casting of his bronze and ceramic wind-bells – to do the same. He was scornful of capitalism and consumerism and luxury living – all of which he accused of destroying the environment.  Soleri especially condemned “sprawl”, which he regarded as nothing short of evil, due to the enormous environmental and social problems created by it.

 I wholeheartedly agree with Soleri’s opinions on sprawl.  However, as we all know, “frugality” doesn’t sell, but his idea of 3D enclosed cities deserves far more media attention.