BYWAYS PLUS: DATES! - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Soleri is the Director of Cosanti, the non-profit foundation
formed 15 years ago to build the foundation of Arcosanti
which will eventually be a city of 2,500 permanent residents
and about an equal number of visiting students, statisticians,
professors, and professionals, and the city will rise 25 stories
on 13 acres in the middle of an 860 acre land reserve.
Dr. Paolo Soleri, 60, native of Torino, Italy, author, Distinguished
Visiting Lecturer at Arizona State University's
College of Architecture, student of Frank Lloyd Wright, and
Gold Medal Winner for Craftsmanship from the American
Institute of Architects is the padrone of Arcosanti. When
Paolo is in the room, others talk in hushed voices. When he
speaks, everybody listens. Good growing weather for skepticism
and doubt. But doubt, skepticism, and even cynicism evaporate
as you see what this man has done.
You see, Soleri has turned things around. Since 1970 when
a few volunteers showed up at the construction site with a
wheelbarrow, a shovel or two, and several 100-pound sacks of
concrete, people have paid to work for him. That's right, they
pay him—about 2,500 of them to date pay $60 a week for their
food, and they work 40-50 hours a week.
In the beginning it was obvious. Soleri saw basic inadequacies
in our schools of architecture, city planning, and
structural engineering among others. Students who were
attending these schools, learning how to design gas stations
and motels, had never held a 2'x4', didn't know the difference
between concrete and cement, hadn't the slightest idea
what backbreaking work pouring forms can be. So Soleri said
he'd give them that experience, a place to live, and a stake in
the future. They'd have to pay for their own food.
Left: The foundry apse, like all
Arcosanti Structures, serves many
purposes. It's a work area where
metal armatures are made for Soleri
bells; apartments built into the apse
have basically northern and
southern-facing windows; and the
floor of the apse can be used for
dance, exercise, and sunbathing.
The Desert Magazine/March 1980