Projected experimental town 67 miles North of Phoenix that uses concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology, to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the Earth
General Information
Tours: Daily, with specific times Thursday–Monday at 9:30am, 11:00am, and 2:00pm; Tuesday–Wednesday at 11:00am and 2:00pm
Closed on major holidays including New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
Discounted rates available for students, seniors, and children
Specialty tours may have additional costs
How to Get There
From Phoenix, AZ (70 mi): Take I-17 N toward Flagstaff, exit at Cordes Junction, then follow signs east on Arcosanti Road to S Cross L Rd and continue to the Arcosanti Visitor Center.
Overview
Arcosanti is a projected experimental town with a molten bronze bell casting business in central Arizona, 70 mi north of Phoenix. Its arcology concept was proposed by the Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri (1919-2013). He began construction in 1970, to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the Earth. He taught and influenced generations of architects and urban designers who studied and worked with him there to build the proposed "town".
Elitemedia.network, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons ; Image Size Adjusted
The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. The project has the goals of combining the social interaction and accessibility of an urban environment with sound environmental principles, such as minimal resource use and access to the natural environment. The project has been building an experimental town on 25 acres of a 4,060-acre land preserve.
Ground was broken in 1970 to begin construction on the site and has continued at a varying pace through the present. The most recently completed building was finished in 1989. The population has tended to vary between 50 and 150 people, many of them students and volunteers. The goal was for Arcosanti to house a population of 5,000 people. Thirteen major structures were built on the site, some several stories tall. One master plan, designed in 2001, envisioned a massive complex, called "Arcosanti 5000", that would dwarf the current buildings.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Arcosanti", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0