It all seemed highly improbable. But visionary things are usually highly improbable.
At Arcosanti - an urban laboratory in the high desert halfway between Phoenix, AZ, and Flagstaff, near the spine of I-17 - there are only 65 permanent residents, all workers intent on bringing to life a city of 5,000. It's all the vision of Italian-born architect Paolo Soleri.
He calls the philosophy of this city rising - or more accurately, built into the walls of a basalt-rock canyon created by the Agua Fria River - "arcology." It's a conflation of two words "architecture" and "ecology." It's described as "the concept of architecture and ecology working as one integral process to produce new urban habitats."
The city in which automobiles are banned has been in the process since 1970. It's a project of the Cosanti Foundation. Largely driven by Soleri himself. Our tour guide today, Dave, filled in a little of the background about how the whole project works.
Where does the money come from?
Revenues are largely generated by the sale of the famous Soleri wind bells and art. Indeed, many of the bells are original art works produced by Soleri himself. He carves the pattern in Styrofoam, which is used as the mold. It's quite stiff and dense but mostly air. When the hot metal is poured into the mold containing the Styrofoam, the Styrofoam vanishes almost instantly. It's called the "lost Styrofoam" process, akin to the "lost wax" process of casting.
The Cosanti Foundation also maintains Cosanti, designated an Arizona Historic Site. Given that Soleri is 91 and he's been living and working in Arizona since 1956, that ought to be justified. Cosanti is located in the Phoenix metro area in Paradise Valley, where Soleri also lives. There's a gallery and shop there where the bells are also made and sold.
Soleri makes weekly treks to Arcosanti but there's more going on
Once a week, Soleri makes the trek to Arcosanti - up from Paradise Valley's altitude of 1,340 feet to Arcosanti's 3,605 feet - for an evening of questions and answers. It's open to the public, said Dave. But be sure to call ahead because, as Dave added, "Soleri might be in China, in New York or in the hospital." No details were available about his medical condition.
However, Soleri's regular appearances are not the only thing open to the public. There are music and dance festivals all year long. Dave described an electronic music festival complete with projections of graphics on big screen in the amphitheater. Because it's in the desert, the designers and builders of Arcosanti take advantage of water every chance they get. The amphitheater has a small moat between the stage and audience. The water runs down a small race from the top of the amphitheater into the moat. It provides a little cooling power on hot days, said Dave.
Though there is scant solar photovoltaic electric production - largely the product of a relationship with Arizona State University - the city in the cliff hopes to gain a lot of energy from vast greenhouses way below the buildings. The heat will then rise via tunnels to heat various buildings on the upper levels. But, as Dave also added, Arcosanti has been on the grid "since day one."
Lunch on the terrace, a perfectly good idea
Lots of that energy seemed to be going on in the kitchen at lunch, also open to the public. For $9 flat, no sales tax is charged, there was a choice today of Moroccan lamb stew with big chunks of carrots and added garbanzo beans either over couscous or millet. With a side of cooked Swiss chard, it was delicious. That was the second course. The first course was a soup of pureed butternut squash. There was also a generous salad bar. Regrettably, the bread was not made at Arcosanti.
The bakery isn't open to the public now; it's under renovation. The dining room, festooned with Soleri bells and artwork by the residents, has dramatic high-ceilings and views of the Agua Fria canyon. There's a small terrace with tables and chairs for outdoor dining. Lunch and dinner are served and open to the public . It was a perfect spot for lunch on a spring day.
The tour, overnights and longer stays - possibly a lifetime
Tours start on the hour, noon excluded, and a suggested donation of $10 per person is asked. The tour lasts about an hour and brings you to parts of Arcosanti that are clearly labeled as "off limits" to casual visitors.
It is possible to stay overnight. Arcosanti offers two levels of accommodations. Simple at $40 a night. A suite that will accommodate about eight for $100 a night.
For folks that want to have more than the hour-long tour or dinner at Arcosanti, there are also workshops. They range in length from one to five weeks and in price from $485 to $1,350. Nine workshops will be held in 2011.
What about becoming a full-time Arcosanti person? Dave said the route is as follows. First you take the five-week workshop. Then, there's some kind of evaluation and then you could become a volunteer. Volunteers don't get paid, of course, but housing is provided. During the course of the volunteer work another evaluation is made, by both sides, of course, the volunteer and the Arcosanti staff. Then a volunteer may become an employee of the Cosant Foundation.
However, all employees are paid only the minimum wage. As Dave explained, it's hard to support a family on a minimum wage and so there's an age gap. Lots of young people without families. Lots of older people -- some retired. But few between say 30 - 60. The number of people living at Arcosanti is also capped by the available number of apartments. The current population is 65. Though Dave did say that more apartments would become available this year as construction finishes.
But there don't seem to be any plans for a huge expansion. But the vision is there and there are the beginnings of a city of 5,000 - with architecturally stunning and generous public and private places.
