I visited Arcosanti last week while on vacation in Arizona. I have to say that for something I first heard about over thirty years ago I was entirely unimpressed by the utter lack of progress made by Soleri and his bunch there. Considering that a Wal Mart can go up in a few weeks and a resort hotel in a year, it doesn't bode well for the ecology set that this facility has scarcely developed into what was promised. If it takes 35 years to build a home for 4000 people, (and it's not NEAR finished) how long would it take to build one for 4,000,000? Also the staff with one exception (the tour guide who apparently was chosen because he was the only employee with people skills) was insufferably rude to the visitors and the entire facility has a run-down appearance in line with an old junior-high school. And considering that tourism seems to be one of the few funding methods available would it kill them to pave the road from the highway or at least put down enough gravel to cover the washboard sections? Had I been driving my own car instead of a rental I would have turned around before knocking my front end out of alignment. I had always wanted to visit Arcosanti after seeing the original arcology designs that Soleri made in the late 60s/early 70s but after seeing what has been actually constructed, which essentially is an elaborate factory for manufacturing very expensive wind chimes, I have no doubt he is on the wrong path if he wants to save the world. People want houses, not tiny apartments. If people in Tokyo had access to land like people in Phoenix Japan would have urban sprawl the likes of which we can scarcely imagine.

Not many remeber, as I, Soleri's first grand advertisement or himself on the "Playboy After Dark"TV show with Norman Mailer acting as the guide for the clear acrylic model of "Arconsanti". I was not impressed with what I thought was an "elitist colony"for the wealthy (of course Soleri was appealing for fundsand to whom would one appeal but the rich?). I later saw a review in the first Whole Earth Catalogue (at the time, a co-worker in the architectural office where I was employed, was preparing his resignation from the firm to go and live and work at Arcosanti)and investigateed further, I still think Soleri is, like many European architects of his era, is a medievalist at his core; nonetheless, I am intrigued and curious about their manner of water collection and would say it is one hell of an art project at best and a failed attempt at urban planning... Soleri's bells are beautiful!

In reference to Richard 4/26/05...you sir are a prime example of no vision, no history sense, no pioneer spirit or compassion...how sad you cannot accept the conception of such a peaceful place---with your biggest complaint a bumpie road? For anyone else reading this review...Arcosanti is a wonderful place full of imagination, vision and wonder. As for the bumpie road....you are in the wild west...that is another part of the charm. Tokyo is exactly the kind of place that could benefit from such a place----Shame on you for such petty remarks. To the rest of you...enjoy your visit to this wonderful place....it's worth the side trip and you just might learn something....I sure did.

at first i felt mad at Richard while reading his comment but then i realized he is a narrow minded person without any artistic interests. Richard, ask yourself a question if those people really are after a luxury life and a big houses? Living the life they do, probably they don't care much for what you would never be able to live without. They have much more that your money would ever buy you, they are free in their hearts, open minded and much wiser than you. And if you don't like dirt road what on earth are you doing in Arizona still? I pity you..they are not after progress and Wal Mart shopping, they are not in rush...Go and get some education Richie, you really need it

Arcosanti is such a joke its pathetic. I visited this eyesore in the desert just this weekend. I've lived in Arizona for 22 years and have heard about Arcosanti ever since I moved here in '86. My wife and I decided to stop by on a weekend trip to Prescott. What I found there was even far less than I would have expected. What is Arcosanti? Essentially its a manufacturing facility for the "famous" Soleri bells. The Bells themselves are artistic and interesting, but also quite a bit overpriced. Call something art and I suppose you can get a lot more for it. The place itself, well its a 40 year old project that is run down and never completed. Work in progress? Please. More like Soleri's source of income and fun. Its an unorganized mess with poor planning, zero execution and a '60's hippie commune feel. The people who live there are essentially slackers who either don't want to live in the real world or can't make it in the real world. I'm not by any means saying they are bad or lazy people, simply that they are artisans with a different view of the world. I can certianly appreciate and even commend their lifestyle, but the idea that a major city can be born out that type of lifestyle is pure lunacy. The idea of Arcosanti is more Science Fiction than Science. Quite honestly, the architecture contrasted with nature on all accounts. It felt cold and distant, sort of what I would envision Orwells world of 1984 to be. With regard to the progress made there over the last 40 years, think about this. I learned from our guide that the Bells generate about a million dollars a year in revenue, add to that 50,000 visitors a year at $8 a pop, and you have another $400K. Not to mention the 5 week workshops at $1k a piece and you're probably making about $1.5 million dollars per year at Arcosanti. That doesn't account for events held at the site. 80-100 people on average live there, so why exactly hasn't more progress been made??? Where is all this money going? It obviously isn't going into building. Nor is it going into maintenance. I don't know how many broken windows, cracked concrete and other run down areas I witnessed. City of the future? Nah, more like one man's egotistical vision of deluded self importance being fed by transient artisans looking for a place to crash for a few months.

Hmm. When I visited there the people were rude, but the place was interesting. I'd visit again, but I'd avoid the people...

I visited Arcosanti this past weekend and came away with mixed feelings. I work in the trades and was interested in attending one of their workshops. I took the tour and came away with a feeling of sadness that this place was so rundown and behind schedule. My tour guide informed us that the next workshop group was going to have the pleasure of digging and pouring the handicap access ramps that were being added. The other big item was the soon to be operational hot tub..Wow, how exciting. Yes, this place has the feel of a commune and our guide informed us quite proudly that only the right kind of people got asked to be permanent residents based on how they got along with everyone at the work shop they payed to attend. I guess that if you believe that wishing something is so will make it so, then this place is for you. I saw a lot of empty beer bottles and cigarette??? buts but I didn't see a lot of signs of progress but hey, the hot tub and pool will be pretty nice if you happen to be the right kind of person who gets asked to stay on and live in a hot concrete cube!! You guys go ahead and hold hands and chant, I will go out in the real world and build real houses that real people can live in and they wont need window mounted AC units to make them habitable!

Ooops: It's true that Solaris' vision was a direct influence on the planners of the Chinese eco-cities. But I have just discovered that the Chinese eco-city projects mentioned in my previous post have mostly been abandoned. Not because of any lack of will by the central government to promote sustainability; rather various conjuncural factors, such as inattention by the local citye governements and the nmostly western archetectural firms involved to the cultural and other realities of the local people; a Shanghai mayor who had helped sponsor the projet landing in jail for unrelated corruption; and various other factors. I think it remains true, however, that Solari's visions will continue to inspire attempts at sustainable city design. See this url for details on the failures of the eco-cities plans in China: http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2138 Eric Sommer

I found Arcosanti to have the feel of a [post-]modern monastery for [recovering] Catholics and other secular Westerns. There are the daily meetings, the chores, vows of poverty, the grand visions of hope and peace, the ideas of transformation; even the ideas of heretical Jesuit priest Teilard de Chardin were invoked. I presume that Frank Lloyd Wright (a good Unitarian) and Soleri's clash was at essence religious (though never consciously so). My only problem with any of that it is that Soleri's latter-day monastery, and the humanist faith community it represents, simply are not honest about what they are, nor do they seem to realize their place within the context of the Western religious and secular tradition. I find that troubling. It's as if Soleri invented it out of whole clothe in the Arizona desert. Oh, the nonsense that anyone of this is about architecture or ecology is just nonsense. It's about sociology. What is everyone talking about? It's about the renunciation of middle-class comfort and privacy and property. That might be good for the planet. It is what nuns and monks do, within in Christianity and in other religions too. It's not new. Soleri has just placed in within a humanist, secular context. You can even stay at the monastery at Arcosanti, they way one can visit any number of monastic institutions for a sense of peace and quite and wholeness. Many make bread or jam. They make bells at Arcosanti. Oh, and the place is a mess and falling apart. Like so many monastic institutions these days. A pity.