13,500 sq. ft., 4 Stories
Visitor's Center, Cafe, Bakery
Housing for 7 Residents
Status: Completed
East of Crafts III are the Foundry
Apse
and Ceramics
Apse
Multi-level
structure offers multi-functional living, work and retail
spaces.
The Heat Tube in
the Atrium space brings warm air down to the cafe level.
A view from Visitor
Center above.
Gift Gallery in the
Visitor Center has a wide selection of Soleri's crafts.
The building incorporates
living spaces.
Approach from the
road below.
Crafts
lll
Begun in 1972,
Crafts III was built in phases and completed in 1977.
A multi-use structure, it is primarily the Visitor's
Center
and provides housing on the first level, a Cafe on the
second level, a Bakery on the third floor mezzanine,
and
a Gallery on the fourth level.
This multi-function facility demonstrates one of the characteristics
of Soleri's Arcology Concept, which integrates
living, recreational and working conditions within a
single structure. The Cafe is warmed in the winter through
the
use of a warm air collected by the skylight blown through
a fabric tube into the atrium.
Cafe
The Cafe at Arcosanti is a busy place around the clock.
Lunch is available to visitors here and all the meals
for workshop participants are served here. The coffee
pot is always on. Dinners preceding concerts in the Colly
Soleri Music Center are often served in this bright, airy
space. The large walls of glass looking out onto the east
and south terraces function as doors. During the summer
they are opened to let the desert breezes into the Cafe,
in the winter they are closed to take advantage of the
Greenhouse Effect. The view of Arcosanti from the east
terrace is through the cypress and olive trees prevalent
in the landscaping here. Back inside, visitors and residents
find indoor seating under a large "Special Assembly"
featuring links carved by Paolo Soleri. They are surrounded
by beautiful views of the surrounding desert and completely
natural lighting flooding in the windows and the skylight
during the daylight hours. Looking up, the bells for sale
in the Gallery two floors above are visible surrounding
the atrium.
Gallery
The Gallery on the top floor of the Visitors Center features
educational materials about the Arcosanti Project, Paolo
Soleri and the silt casting process developed by Soleri
and used in construction at Arcosanti.
Tours of Arcosanti begin in the Gallery and you can pick
up a video of a documentary made for public television
about Paolo Soleri, a CD featuring the "Bells of
Arcosanti," or a T-shirt or sweatshirt to take home.
But, of course, Cosanti Originals bronze and ceramic windbells
made at Arcosanti, and the architecture itself are the
stars here.
The central skylight is shaded on the sunny summer days.
Fabric shades are used in and on many of the buildings
at Arcosanti. Paolo Soleri calls this seasonal shading
Garment Architecture. Bells hang all around the atrium
under the skylight, many of them "Special Assemblies"
featuring sculptural links carved personally by Paolo
Soleri.
The famous Cosanti Originals Windbells, as well as sculpture
by Paolo Soleri, prints of his original drawings, ceramic
tiles, planters, books, CDs, videos and slides are sold
by the Gallery staff. The staff also conduct tours of
Arcosanti which begin here in the Gallery. The north wall
of the Gallery is filled with one of the most popular
lines of Cosanti Original bells, the Cause Bells. Sale
of the Cause Bells benefits over 25 charitable organizations,
as well as the Cosanti Foundation. Also available for
sale in the Gallery is the work of two resident artists.
Each year the work of two different Arcosanti artists
is featured. The work of Arcosanti artists is also featured
a couple of times a year at art shows and festivals sponsored
by the Arcosanti Community Council.
