About Arcosanti
Arcosanti is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to testing and demonstrating arcology, architecture + ecology, as a way to reduce human impact on the environment while improving quality of life. Its educational programs and stunning architecture in a high desert setting attract international students and visitors daily.
Since Italian architect Paolo Soleri launched Arcosanti in 1970, over 6,000 people have participated in the Cosanti Foundation's educational Workshop programs. Workshop participants are of diverse ages and backgrounds and many spend additional time at Arcosanti as short-term or long-term residents who work and live on site.
Arcosanti is a project of the Cosanti Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to education through the construction of Arcosanti as an "urban laboratory." Arcosanti is in central Arizona, about one hour north of Phoenix. Arcosanti is open to visitors daily from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (closed major holidays), offering tours at 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 p.m. Meals are offered in the Arcosanti Cafe and overnight accommodations are available by reservation. World famous Soleri ceramic and bronze windbells are produced and sold on site.
Arcosanti is located 65 miles north of Phoenix. Take exit 262 off I-17 and follow the signs for Arcosanti. Maps and other information are available at www.arcosanti.org or by calling 928-632-7135.
About Arcology
The arcology concept proposes a highly integrated and compact three-dimensional urban form. It is the opposite of urban sprawl and its inherently wasteful consumption of land, energy and time, tending to isolate people from each other and community. The complexification and miniaturization of arcology enables radical conservation of land, energy, and resources while also increasing residential access to amenities for residents. Arcology addresses issues like pollution, social isolation, resource scarcity, community, health, housing, education, access to nature, culture, and more, all while privacy is paramount in the design.
An arcology would need about 2% as much land as a typical city of similar population. Today's city devotes more than 60% of its land to roads and automobiles while arcology eliminates the automobile from within the city. The multi-use nature of arcology design would put living, working, and public spaces within easy reach of each other, making walking the main form of transportation within the city.
An arcology's direct proximity to uninhabited wilderness provides the city dweller with constant access to rural space. Agriculture is integrated into the city design, maximizing the logistical efficiency of food distribution systems. Arcology uses passive solar architectural techniques such as the apse effect, greenhouse architecture, and garment architecture to reduce the energy usage of the city, especially in terms of heating, lighting, and cooling. Overall, arcology seeks to embody a "Lean Alternative" to hyper consumption and wastefulness through more frugal, efficient and thoughtful city design.
Arcology theory holds that this leanness is obtainable only via the miniaturization intrinsic to the Urban Effect, the complex interaction between diverse entities and organisms which mark healthy systems both in the natural world and in every successful and culturally significant city in history.
