May 25, 2011

The Words and Forms of Paolo Soleri

by: Taz Loomans

3 Comments

Last week I attended a special event organized by the AIA-Arizona an hour north of Phoenix at Arcosanti.  I rode up with friends and sustainability wonks Jonce Walker, Joe Zazzera and Jeremy Stapleton in Joe’s Prius. The event included a tour of Arcosanti and a subsequent talk by Paolo Soleri.  Mr.Soleri introduced The Lean Linear City concept to us and then proceeded to answer the questions of the various design professionals in the audience.

Below is a photo essay of my unforgettable experience at Arcosanti mixed in with Mr. Soleri’s always remarkable thoughts.

It’s a shortsighted proposition that we can ignore the needs of nature because we are superior to it.

 

 

 


 

This continent should go on rails and start marginalizing the car.

 

We want to be wealthy hermits, to hell with the planet.


 

The American Dream has been delivering hyper-consumption.

We are so taken by survival, we don’t have time for anything else.

The car has exploded the landscape.

This country is on the verge of becoming if not obsolete, a second-rate culture.

It’s nice to have orchids (beautiful one-off architecture projects), but it’s indispensable to build a forest (a city).

All Photos by the Author.

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3 Responses

  1. Informative and the photos speak a lot on its design.

  2. AaronW says:

    Excellent photos – thank you for posting.
    I’ve been to Arcosanti twice – once for Seminar Week in 1995, and again for an overnight visit this past April.
    Loved it both times, and it was neat to see what’s changed – and what hasn’t in the intervening 17 years.

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