After spending the afternoon at Consanti, Paolo Soleri’s work has a magical way of working its way into your soul. His spectacular displays of bronze and ceramic windbells, along with his architectural imagination is a day of visual treats that just doesn’t stop. So yearning for more, another adventure unfolded at Arcosanti.
Arcosanti located off of interstate 17 near Cordes Junction (65 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona) can be described as a concept of architecture and ecology working as one integral process to produce new urban habitats. Soleri designed Arcosanti as a prototype and when construction is completed, it’ll house 5,000 people by combining compact urban structure with large-scale solar greenhouses on 25 acres on a 4,000 acre preserve. Students and professionals from all over the world have come to Arcosanti to participate in seminars, conferences and workshops conducted by Soleri and his staff. A music center offers a program of performing artists and the location hosts over 50,000 visitors annually. Tours are conducted seven days a week between 9 and 5 on the hour except for noon time.
All of this sounds wonderful, right? Now herein lies the problem. I now have another item on the bucket list. You see, there’s a five week workshop where you can study and live at Arcosanti. Combining academic and experiential learning, one can study Soleri’s concepts and designs while contributing to the building on the site. I so want to do this!!
fun… my girlfriend lived there for a couple years in her youth… old old fashioned hippy parents. Loved it!
That workshop sounds absolutely amazing. You should do it..you should!! And what a wonderful scene and setting!!!