Explore Arcosanti - An Urban Laboratory

Arcosanti - An Urban Laboratory

Arcosanti is a little known art community about an hour and a half North of Phoenix on I-17.  Back in 1970, renown architect and social engineer Paolo Soleri and a group of volunteers began building this communal space for living, educating and entertainment - think "Biosphere 2" but for artists and architects. Soleri believed that modern society needed significant changes to how cities were designed and constructed to minimize urban sprawl, traffic, and help maximize social interactions within society. Soleri coined the term of "arcology" - Architecture and Ecology - which philosophically combines the ideas of how humans interact with their environment.

The guided tour tells the history of the project while walking through the community and explaining how it is still evolving. Our guide this day was a lovely young woman who has been living/learning on site for the past year as an alumni of a previous program. The tour takes you through Arcosanti's art spaces, living spaces, common spaces, and gardens. Students from across the country apply for the limited number of fellowships to spend a year working along master artists and craftsmen to hone their skills and participate in this fascinating experiment. One main source of funding for the organization is the sale of the bronze wind-chimes that are forged on site using bronze sand-casting methods (which is part of the tour).

Tours are conducted daily and are on the way from Phoenix to Sedona or Flagstaff.

https://arcosanti.org