MABE - PLACES : ARCOSANTI

Introducing the astonishing utopian city Arcosanti, situated an hour north of Phoenix in the central Arizona Desert. Designed and created in 1970 by the late Italian architect Paolo Soleri, who envisioned creating a place where people could live in harmony within the natural world, minimising their impact on the earth. Paolo Soleri’s revolutionary city still remains today as a work in progress with an extraordinary philosophy, bringing nature closer to people and people closer to each other.

 

 The incredible story begins with over 7,000 volunteers from across the world travelling to the middle of Arizona to help build the micro-city of the future at the beginning of 1970. The volunteers had no background in architecture or design but were determined to make Arcosanti possible. Arcosanti comes from the two Italian words “Cosa” and “Anti” which translates to “against things,” creating a place in which goes against the mainstream culture of consumerism. The city is seen as an early example of sustainable architecture integrating the design of architecture with respect to ecology, being built based on archology, ensuring to create balance within the natural world. The city is built for efficiency and inspired by nature, creating maximum convenience and community by building no roads and ensuring most of the buildings are facing Southwards in order to capture the Sun’s light and heat, creating a cooler space in the Summer and a warmer space in the Winter.

“The city is the necessary instrument for the evolution of human kind”

- Paolo Soleri

 Although this extraordinary city is still yet to be complete, it has become a place where people from all walks of life visit with over 50,000 people visiting each year. The city has become a place for people to take tours, stay overnight, join communities, whilst also being an education centre with workshops and classes. To this day the Arcosanti foundation hopes to influence society by building our world with as little impact on the natural world, they believe it is up to us to protect our planet by consuming responsibly and introducing sustainable habits into everyday life. 

You can find out more about this fascinating city HERE.

All images by Andrew Moore for PORT Magazine