Arcosanti is an Arcology based intentional community in Paradise Valley, Arizona.  This place is supposed to be an intentional community with a focus on education, and was created by an Italian man named Paolo Soleri. Paolo was born in 1919, and passed away in 2013. He was an architect, urban designer, and a philosopher. His creation, Arcosanti is an ‘urban laboratory’ with an intention to show an alternative way of living. He believed that Arcosanti would bring humans together through Arcology (architecture and ecology). He began his building with a group of students in the 1590’s and atttempted to create a society that was both anti-materialist and earth-centered.

Soleri had two major plans for Arcosanti. The first, dubbed the ‘master plan’ or ‘Arcosanti 5000‘ explains the arcitecture of the area. The current master plan can hold 5000 people, and featured multi-use areas. Currently, Arcosanti is in ‘critical mass‘ phase. The Critical mass population is 10% of the master plan. There are five main sections in the current version of Arcosanti. Each of these sections help Arcosanti become a self-sufficient community. It looks super futuristic, and reminds me of UBC – it’s its own community that appears to be self-sufficient, and it could easily be used as a research project! These buildings connect together, and they are all built to follow the positives that nature has, and is solar-powered. If only all off-the-grid communities could look this wonderful.

The buildings feature high, rounded ceilings that help circulate the air and keeps the buildings cool in the summertime. Every design feature was implemented to keep people comfortable, which helps the community stay in the area. The vision of the property is to find the relationship and balance between the earth and human activities. Arcosanti is, most importantly about resourcefullness, ecological accountability, experiental learning, and creating a limited footprint.

I found this community incredibly interesting, especially in connection to the field trip on Tuesday that we went on. This community, although it is different than the community we went to, shares similar values, especially in their eco-friendly view!

For more info, please visit: https://arcosanti.org/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VICOY_CVaHs

Another video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEqPBZ-2Vz8