Arizona is not only home to numerous natural wonders, it also contains some of the nation’s most unique scientific and urban experiments. One such experiment is embodied by Arcosanti, a self-proclaimed “urban laboratory” located in Mayer, AZ. This unique—and thus far unfinished—utopia was originally designed as a fusion of architecture and ecology, aiming to house and sustain up to 5,000 people in just 25 acres of land.
Arcosanti’s Creator
Arcosanti is a “city of the future” envisioned by Paolo Soleri, an Italian-American architect whose career focused on eliminating the destructive impact of humanity’s expansion across the globe. Soleri aimed to create an urban utopia that could sustain a large number of people in a small area of land, thus reducing the environmental impacts of large city development. The Arcosanti project began in 1970, and the city’s plans have gone through numerous revisions, updates, and changes over the years. In 2011, Soleri finally stepped back from the project, leaving it to the Cosanti Foundation for future management; Soleri passed away in 2013 at the age of 93.
Arcosanti Today
Although development of Arcosanti has continued ever since ground was broken in 1970, today only approximately five percent of the city has been completed. Finished structures include a five-story visitors’ center, cafe, and gift shop, as well as a community pool, amphitheater, and bronze-casting apse where sculptural wind bells designed by Soleri are created to finance the city’s ongoing construction. The city currently operates under the Cosanti Foundation as an educational center, which hosts events and workshops illustrating and teaching Soleri’s unique ideas and design philosophies.
