Workshops
Learn by doing at Arcosanti
Summer-Fall 2023
Why learn arcology?
Arcosanti is an urban experiment that practices sustainable living through arcology: synchronizing architecture+ecology by reducing energy and waste through community resilience and land stewardship.
Our Workshop Programs
Farm to Table Workshop, Fall 2023
- Eliminate transportation using a closed-loop food system.
- Know the real source and handling of your food.
- Grow quality food crops with high nutritional value.
Learn Hands-on
Learn and practice the science of sustainable food production. Become inspired by what you grow and turn it into memorable meals. Facilities include a wide array of growing styles: greenhouse agriculture, hydroponics, raised beds, fruit and nut orchard, field crops, and a permaculture food forest.
Build a Community
- Run a store & make group meals together.
- Respect history and care for its habitat.
- Live, work and play in the same space.
Program
$1750 for five-week workshop
September 25th – October 31st 2023; End of summer harvest, beginning of fall planting.
Includes tuition, 5-day per week lunch, housing, facilities, and field trips.
Upon graduation you join the more than 8,000 alumni who have built the arcology of Arcosanti.
Construction Workshop, Fall 2023
How do we practice construction at Arcosanti?
- Help repair and restore the original structures of Arcosanti.
- Help build new structures as part of urban experiment.
- Learn resource-conscious architecture.
- Discover a compact and integrated urbanism.
Learn Hands-on
Develop and implement the science of architecture and construction using our central plan centered on arcology and the project of building a self-sufficient and humane pedestrian city. Projects include examination, demolition, and remodeling of existing structures, as well as building and reformatting structures into functional environments that focus on community.
- Assist in tiling, framing, plumbing, electrical, and other skill-learning tasks.
- Participate in work and community events and gatherings.
- Live, work, and learn as a group in the same space.
Program
$1400 for four-week workshop
November 6th – December 1st 2023
Includes tuition, 5-day per week lunch, housing, facilities, and field trips.
Upon graduation you join the more than 8,000 alumni who have built the arcology of Arcosanti.
Archives Workshop, Fall 2023
- Study the wealth of historical knowledge and media developed at Arcosanti.
- Learn and preserve the lineage of theory and practice of this urban experiment.
- Clean and maintain historic architectural documents and models.
Learn Hands-on
Discover and document the posterity of past work including art, sketches, text documents, construction documents, architectural models, drawings, and photographs. Facilities include an environment-controlled archives unit, with digitizing methods, storage areas, and virtual reality simulations. The archives is the largest repository of arcology thought and design, where we help pass the legacy of The Cosanti Foundation to the next generation of archivists.
- Help disseminate archival information to the public via displays and exhibits.
- Catalogue and digitize past work.
- Live, work, and learn in the same space.
Opportunities vary and are based on available material and needed tasks.
Program
$1400 for four-week workshop
November 6th – December 1st 2023
Includes tuition, 5-day per week lunch, housing, facilities, and field trips.
Upon graduation you join the more than 8,000 alumni who have built the arcology of Arcosanti.
If you have any question or to request more information please email workshop@arcosanti.org
Our WorkDay Programs
In these single day programs, participants learn a variety practices and crafts through hands-on experience.
Indian Cuisine and Culture Day
A day of celebrating Indian Divine Dance and Delicious Delicacies with two workdays and a dinner & dance experience
Indian Culinary Workday
Under the guidance of Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya you will learn how to prepare these classic Indian delicacies.
Palak Paneer: cottage cheese and Arcosanti greens gravy • Chicken Rogan Josh: flavorful spicy chicken from Kashmir • Kheer: Indian creamy rice pudding
Odissi Dance Workday
Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya will be teaching the foundational basics of Odissi dance. This will include basic movements such as torso work & Mudras – hand gestures as well as an invocatory dance to Mother goddess DURGA.
Indian Dinner and Dance Performance
Pakora: onion, potato, vegetables fried in spicy gram flour batter • Raita: lightly spiced yogurt with cucumber and onion • Palak Paneer: cottage cheese and Arcosanti greens gravy • Dal : Indian lentils lightly spiced • Jeera rice: basmati rice cooked with cumin & ghee • Chicken Rogan Josh: flavorful spicy chicken from Kashmir • Chatni: sweet & sour dip • Puri: Indian wheat fried bread • Kheer: Indian creamy rice pudding
Date
Saturday, September 30th
Schedule
9 am – 12 pm: Indian Culinary Workshop
12 – 2 pm: Lunch in the Arcosanti Café
2 – 5 pm: Odissi Dance Workshop
5 – 6 pm: Complimentary Tour of Arcosanti
6 pm – 9 pm: Indian Dinner and Odissi Dance Performance by Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya in the Café
$35 – $50
Clay Pit-Firing Workday Weekend
Learn and participate in an ancient form of firing pottery that uses natural materials and requires no gas or electricity during this two-day program.
You choose a small pre-made (bisque) clay vessel to decorate with different colorants, as well as learn the process of burnishing surfaces on some leather hard clay. After filling the earth pit with various natural combustibles and the pots, we begin the firing process. Typically this lasts a few hours, then the pit is covered and left overnight. In the evening, all participants can attend a potluck style dinner followed by a short presentation on the history of pit firing, particularly its significance in indigenous communities of the Southwest.
You may camp or stay in a guest room overnight, with a nature hike and then brunch in our café the next morning. During the hike you can collect a burnishing stone to take with you for future work. By afternoon, the pit should be cool enough to unload and we can talk about ways to finish the pieces with waxing or just leave them as-is.
What to Bring
Please bring a water bottle, snacks, sun protection, and food to cook for the community dinner. We will provide natural colorants to use for your vessel such as steel wool, banana peels, sawdust, cow pies, dried leaves, horse hair, coffee grounds, steel nails, bark, copper wire, copper carbonate, copper sulfate, sodium chloride, and iron oxide, but you are also welcome to bring your own.
Take Home
You’ll be able to take home your decorated, burnished, and fired vessel with you.
Date
Saturday, October 7th – Sunday, October 8th
Schedule
Day One: Saturday, October 7th
10 am: Decorate vessels and learn about burnishing
12 pm: Lunch in Café
2 pm: Load and fire earth pit
6 pm: Potluck community dinner
7 pm: Presentation on land stewardship and indigenous pit-firing
Day Two: Sunday, October 8th
9 am: Nature hike along the Agua Fria
11 am: Brunch in Café
2 pm: Unload earth pit-firing
$325 (Lunch and brunch included)
$15 Camping option (or reserve a guest room here).
Bell-Making WorkDay
In this hands-on WorkDay, you will learn the unique silt-cast bell-making process developed by The Cosanti Foundation and used every day by the artisans of Cosanti Originals to make our world-famous ceramic windbells. As a participant, you will have the opportunity to cast and carve your own one-of-a-kind ceramic bell. This process involves using clay and dirt to create your bell, so come prepared to get your hands dirty.
Fall 2023 Dates
All dates are full.Saturday, September 30th
Saturday, October 21st
Saturday, November 4th
Please check this page in the fall for updates.
Schedule
8am: Introductory Tour, then Forming Bells
12pm: Break for Lunch (Included),
1pm: Begin Carving Bells
3pm: Group Photo and Salutation
$195
Event and Program Refund Policy
Workshops: In the event that a participant must cancel registration, the workshop fee will be refunded IN FULL up until 2 weeks before the first date of scheduled workshop date(s). Refunds requested less than 2 weeks before the first date of the scheduled workshop will be refunded at 50% or, applied IN FULL to a future workshop held during the same calendar year. Refunds requested on or after the first date of the scheduled workshop are not eligible for a refund.
Public Programs and Performances: Ticket-holders may request a refund up until 1 week before the scheduled performance or program date; EventBrite, our ticketing platform, reserves the right to charge a nominal fee for issuing a refund. Refunds requested less than one week of the scheduled performance or after a performance or program has taken place are not eligible for a refund.
Special Circumstance Cancellations: For single-day workshops and public programs that The Cosanti Foundation is forced to cancel due to low enrollment or ticket sales, extraordinary or unforeseen circumstances, or acts of god, registrants and ticket-holders will be notified via email and receive a refund IN FULL.
Private Events: Refunds for the cancellation of private events are subject to the terms and conditions stated in the individual contractual agreements between the event organizer and The Cosanti Foundation.
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