CORONADO

One time I drove to Oracle for chow with Aura and some of her friends and on the way I stopped at Arcosanti. She obviously hadn’t gotten the whole idea of the place. Maybe it’s not Sine’s so-called microcosm of Manhattan, but as a real estate guy, I find it quite interesting. She showed me a program she’d saved from one of the festivals she went to there. She must have missed the bit about Soleri’s intent that it be 25 stories. I know that’s not a skyscraper anymore, but it’s pretty tall, and if you built many Arcosantis, you would end up maybe not with Manhattan, but something fairly dense. Of course it never got to be more than a few stories, so that’s probably why she missed it. Well, in any case, it’s a very nice place to be. Here’s that brochure she kept. Why don’t you read it Aura. Once, anyway.

AURA

Alright, smarty pants. All I need to know is it’s Soleri’s attempt to combine architecture with ecology. At least he’s trying. Alright? - But I’ll read it, for what it’s worth:

Arcosanti Festival 1978 Program
Arcosanti Workshops 1979 (circular) Arcosanti: An Introduction:

"The construction of Arcosanti began in 1970 in the mesa country of Central Arizona, 70 miles north of Phoenix [near Cordes Junction]. When completed the town of 4500-5000 people will rise 25 stories, [Oh, so that’s what you’re talking about.], will rise 25 stories, cover 13 acres of an 860 acre land preserve, will serve as a study center for the social, economic, and ecological implications of its architectural framework...

"The town structure will be integrated with a 5-acre greenhouse sloping down from the town along the south face of the mesa. The greenhouse will provide food on a year-round basis and passively meet the space and water heating needs of the town, … the intent [partly] being the development of a central system for the efficient collection, transmission and consumption of the solar energy needed to support the population of a town or city.… Projects presently under construction, including a residential complex, will be sun-heated by the greenhouse and chimney effects. [I like that.]

" … The self-contained design of the arcology would result in: conservation of energy and resources; preservation of land for agriculture facilities; elimination of the need within the urban landscape for the automobile, a prime cause of pollution and waste; and highly integrated and economically efficient heating, cooling, lighting, delivery systems and waste disposal mechanisms. In addition, the arcology can be an instrument for cultural intensification and social integration while meeting the private needs of the individual. Every resident would have immediate and unlimited access to the lively urban center as well as to a vast natural landscape. The arcology is an environment that offers a satisfying synthesis of city and country dwelling.… [It sounds sort of like our place in Oracle, only bigger.]

"[The concept is based on several physical and biological phenomena (effects):] The Greenhouse Effect enables the collection of the sun’s warmth inside a defined space. When combined with the Horticulture Effect [a human creation] this provides a natural agricultural base. The Chimney Effect is the system by which the collected warm air may be channeled as it rises. The Apse Effect deals with a quarter-sphere structure facing south and thus acting as a sun collector in the cold season and as a sunshade in the warm season. It is a passive “energy machine” running solely on how it displays itself to the ever-changing journey of the sun. The Heat Sink Effect is the capacity of mass (stone, concrete, water, etc.) to store heat when the surrounding temperature is higher than its own and to give it back when the surrounding temperature is lower than its own. The Urban Effect is the conscious interaction of matter. - [Hmmn.]

"… Since the technologies and hardware for imple­mentation are unsophisticated, the concept can have universal application throughout those climate belts of the earth endowed with sunshine. At least two-thirds of humankind is living in such a belt, from the coastal areas to the mountain landscapes. [The way things are going it’ll be more.] Optimum areas would be those with low rainfall, the arid zones, for five main reasons: 1) high percentage of sunny days, 2) the necessity of careful water management, 3) the high desirability of contained, dense urban systems, 4) the desirability of foodstuffs produced locally for local consumption at a minimal water use, 5) the effectiveness of evaporative cooling in dry climates. . . . [Yeah…. I can buy all of that.]

"LIVING AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE: Soleri points out that Arcosanti is not now an arcology. He believes that the physical structure helps to define the sort of community that will eventually develop. At Arcosanti the structure is in the process of being built. A community has developed around the construction experience and as work continues the structure of the community will change to fit new needs. The process of living and of suggesting changes as needs arise is everyone’s concern.... To date, [thousands of] students and professionals of all ages, races and backgrounds have participated in experiential workshops and seminars, teaching and learning from one another through the building of Arcosanti.

"… As an eventual research center and living university, Arcosanti continues to grow as a cultural center for the region through the many performances and events offered each year.” [Have you thought of us doing our thing there?]

To visit Arcosanti, exit 1-17 north of Phoenix at Cordes Junction, turn left at the stop sign and proceed 2½ miles on the dirt road to the Visitor’s Center (the first building you come to).

So there you are. And then there’s a bunch of links you can click on to see about tours, events, etc. I want us to stop there again for a concert that’s on the list. The concerts beat the pants off all this architecture lingo. But I do like the way it’s turning out, even if Soleri is getting on in years.

●Arcology theory detailed

●Arcosanti Intro - Project, Concept

●Tours

●Events

●Contact

●Residency experience - Overnight

●Longer term with workshop

●10 day weather forecast

● Get book