Paolo Soleri is Hot Again
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.28.08
Creative Commons CodyR
In the sixties, Paolo Soleri coined words like "ecotecture" and "arcology" to define his concepts for dense, energy efficient, car-free cities. Generations of architecture students, including this writer, made the pilgrimage to Arcosanti, his prototype arcology with a projected population of 5,000. Thirty-five years later it has a population of about sixty, but the Soleri who seemed like such a nut not so long ago is suddenly looking very smart. Steve Rose writes about it in the Guardian, and visits the 89 year old Soleri.
Creative Commons RileyOne
"It was not a community for community's sake, eating tofu and giving each other back rubs," says Roger Tolman, who oversaw construction. "It was the opposite of the hippy scene: a community of construction workers. If you were going to be here, you were going to work - harder than you'd ever worked in your life."
Soleri was on the fringe of the architectural world for years but as Rose writes:
Rather than a "crazy guy" ranting in the wilderness, Soleri has proved to be a voice of reason. Nobody wanted to hear his diagnosis of the ills of US society, but it has been proved right - the car-centric, inefficient, horizontal suburban model has left us in poor shape to cope with climate-change problems. Yet Soleri is sceptical of new-found admirers of his philosophy. "They take a very shallow understanding of it," he says. In Soleri's view, we need to reformulate, rather than simply reform, our strategy for civilisation. His outlook is not hopeful. "Materialism is, by definition, the antithesis of green," he says. "We have this unstoppable, energetic, self-righteous drive that's innate in us, but which has been reoriented by limitless consumption. Per se, it doesn't have anything evil about it. It's a hindrance. But multiply that hindrance by billions, and you've got catastrophe." ::Guardian
More Soleri in TreeHugger
Arcosanti: "A Utopian Well in the Desert"
The TH Interview: Tony Brown and the Ecosa Institute
CarFree City, USA: Walk Away From Oil
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Dongtan, China's Flagship Ecocity Project, R.I.P.
- Foster + Partners Green Building in Buenos Aires: The Aleph
- So Long 2008, and Thanks for All the Posts
- Nagoya: City Planning For The Car-Free Future
South African Fruit and Wine Growers Consider Carbon Footprint
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A Picture is Worth...Square Watermelons
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Finally.... someone is listening...
Paolo Soleri was right. but, like most visionaries, is so personally offensive that the majority won't adopt his philosophy, regardless of rightness, until he dies or gets a press agent to generate new buzz outside of academic circles.
In late September 2006, my wife and I had our honeymoon in Arizona and New Mexico. We passed through Arcosanti and decided to check it out. We bought a brass bell and found out through the tour that we could stay the night there.
They are famous for their ceramic and brass bells which creates a significant portion of their income in building the place. They have no debt. They build as the income comes in through bells, classes, and overnight stays.
So, we stayed in one of their guesthouses and only used a fan to keep us cool. The way their architecture is designed, you don't really need A/C. It was the cheapest hotel that we stayed at during our honeymoon. They also gave us a free dinner as well.
The bats (yeah, bats) got to my wife while they were flying around in the mess hall, but no one else seemed to mind.
The folks there were mostly young, college age, some spoke with foreign langauges or accents. Pretty cool.
Wished I had more time to take a class there. Maybe live there for a while. Got a family now. Maybe in my next life.
I'm officially motivated to check this out when I do an AmTrak trip of the US next summer. ~~ 400$ or so for a month pass for a student.
thanks for sharing dave