4.1. Case study 1- Paolo Soleri’s- Arcosanti

4.1. Case study 1- Paolo Soleri’s - Arcosanti

Figure 18. Acrosanti ceramic apse view

Location -Arizona

Year of completion -1997

Architect - Paolo Soleri

typology -Arcology

Programme -Experimental city

Area -25 acres

Intent -Understanding arcology and experimentation in design

Arcology

Paolo soleri conceived a city based on his ideology of archology14 , which is combination

of architecture and ecology. Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti was as utopian a project as anything

built in the 1960s and 70s, a grandiose, ornate secluded Arizona desert community

designed with Its ribbed vaults, round shapes, and sweeping curves look lifted from

fantasy or sci-fi. Many structures point south for light and heat purposes. The multi-use

nature of arcology design would put living, working, and public spaces within easy reach

of each other and walking would be the main form of transportation within the city,

this leaves this city with no roads.

Paolo Soleri envisaged Arcology would use passive solar architectural techniques such

as the apse effect, greenhouse architecture and garment architecture to reduce the

energy usage of the city, especially in terms of heating, lighting and cooling. The result,

he felt, would be a self-sustaining, self-contained hyper-efficient answer to all of

mankind's problems.

Figure 19. Energy Apron- arcology

14 The term was coined in 1969 by architect Paolo Soleri, who believed that a completed arcology would provide space for a variety of residential, commercial, and agricultural facilities while minimizing individual human environmental impact. it is a field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated, ecologically low-impact human habitats.

A utopian city and an urban laboratory made in the desert of Arizona which was supposed

to make a settlement on a 25-acre land for 5000 people is an anti-sprawl development

and highly sustainable consists of about a dozen buildings, including modular, block-like

stacks of residential units, a music centre, Soleri’s design studio, and a foundry under a half-dome, where bronze bells are cast by community members and sold to support the

project.

Existing structures at Arcosanti are meant to begin to provide for the complete needs of a community. They include: a five-story visitors' centre/cafe/gift shop; a bronze-

casting apse; a ceramics apse; two large barrel vaults; a ring of apartment residences and

quasi-public spaces around an outdoor amphitheatre; a community swimming pool; an

office complex, above which is an apartment that was originally Soleri's suite. A two-

bedroom "Sky Suite" occupies the highest point in the complex; it, as well as a set of rooms

below the pool, is available for overnight guests. Most of the buildings have accessible

roofs.

Programme

Arcosanti was conceived of and remains primarily an education centre, with students from

around the world visiting to attend workshops, classes, and to assist with the continuing

construction. 40,000 tourists visit yearly. Tourists can take a guided tour of the site or

make reservations to stay overnight in guest accommodations. Some Arcosanti funding

comes from selling the bells made and cast from clay and bronze on site. Additional

funding comes from donations, and fees for workshops that last up to five weeks. Thirteen

major structures have been built on the site to date, some several stories tall. One master

plan, designed in 2001, envisions a massive complex, called "Arcosanti 5000", that would

dwarf the current buildings.

Figure 20. Model of Acrosanti 5000 master plan