Arcology

After spending the last 5 days with my beautiful, funny, all grown up now, niece - eating, drinking, talking and eating, I headed for Cosanti.

Cosanti is in Paradise Valley, Arizona. It is the residence and sculpture studio of Paolo Soleri and his staff. Soleri (later joined by his students) began work on the experimental buildings in the mid 1950’s. 

Designated as an Arizona Historic Site, Cosanti presents a unique bio-climatic architectural environment. Its structures combine many imaginative design elements and innovative construction techniques.

Cosanti Architecture

The buildings at Cosanti are not intended as examples of the arcology concept, but many of its principles are at work here.

Most of these structures, and the ones at Arcosanti, were built using the earth casting method or one of Soleri’s variations on the technique. Concrete was poured over pre-shaped earthen molds, and the earth excavated once the concrete solidified.

A modified earth casting technique is used to craft the bronze and ceramic windbells produced here and at Arcosanti.

The general orientation of the buildings is important. Many are situated below ground level and surrounded by mounds of earth. This acts as natural insulation to help moderate interior temperatures year round.

There are many apses. Apse is the Latin word for quarter sphere, or half dome. It is a passive energy collector running solely on how it displays itself to the ever-changing journey of the sun. South facing apses are used at Cosanti and Arcosanti as year-round outdoor workspaces. A south-facing apse is sunny in the winter and shady in the summer due to the changing angle of the sun. Other structures such as the pool have southern exposures to maximize the warmth of the winter sun.

Cosanti is open 7 days a week. It is very interesting but there is no guided tour and many of the areas are closed off because it is still a residence. It is mostly a place to sell the famous bronze and ceramic Soleri Windbells, which are also made at Arcosanti and are a major funding source for Arcosanti.

Arcosanti

I then drove about 50 miles north to visit Arcosanti. It was a little out of my way but well worth it.

2 1/2 miles down a dirt, (VERY) washboard road.

This model shows what it should look like when finished. Now, only the gray areas are near completion.

This is a picture (not very good) of what it will look like when completed.

In addition to the concepts used above to describe Cosanti, there are many other concepts to understand the basics behind this city. (Much of this was taken from their brochures and website.)

Arcology is Paolo Soleri's concept of cities which embody the fusion of architecture with ecology. The arcology concept proposes a compact urban form that is the opposite of urban sprawl with its inherently wasteful consumption of land, energy and time, tending to isolate people from each other and the community. The complexification and miniaturization of the city enables radical conservation of land, energy and resources.

Overall, arcology seeks to embody a “Lean Alternative” to hyper consumption and wastefulness through more frugal, efficient and intelligent city design.

Arcology theory holds that this leanness is obtainable only via the miniaturization intrinsic to the Urban Effect, the complex interaction between diverse entities and organisms which mark healthy systems both in the natural world and in every successful and culturally significant city in history.

An arcology would need about two percent as much land as a typical city of similar population. Today’s typical city devotes more than sixty percent of its land to roads and automobile services. Arcology eliminates the automobile from within the city. The multi-use nature of arcology design would put living, working and public spaces within easy reach of each other and walking would be the main form of transportation within the city.

This is the pottery area where the pottery bells are made.

The materials, like the concrete and the canvas are used in these buildings to help with heating, cooling, air flow, etc..

The back building is concrete that was poured into wood molds. 

The front wall with the circle windows are also concrete but poured laying down and then lifted up. They also have extra dirt and rocks on the surface of the wall for added interest and beauty.

This  was one of my favorite areas. A huge amphitheater for theater and concerts. There is a mote around the stage with water in it which was very interesting. Behind the stage was a music room with a piano that was being played while we were there. The sound was amazing. The building on the other side houses apartments, a library, a workout room. All for the community.

This was a large community area complete with tricycles and a basketball hoop.

There is a swimming pool, (although it was closed and empty now) a greenhouse, and a beautiful view.

The space is VERY beautiful, very serene, very quiet and very hopeful.

This project was started in the 1960's. When completed it could house 5,000 people by combining compact urban structure with large scale solar greenhouses on 25 acres of a 4,000 acre preserve.

Students, volunteers, and work study participants do the bulk of the work. At any given time there are 30(in the summer months) - 100 (in the 70's) people living there.

Arcosanti is located off of Interstate - 17 exit 262. You do have to drive about 2 1/2 miles on a dirt, wash board road. It is open 7 days a week with tours almost every hour. There is a bakery and cafe with very short hours.

 www.arcosanti.org

A Biosphere Experiment

Yesterday, after the art gallery and before accidently driving in the dark up the twisty, windy, narrow mountain road to spend the night on the side of said road in the Superstition Mountains, I revisited the Biosphere 2.


Back in 1994 while I was traveling and living in Phoenix as a nurse I visited Biosphere 2. At that time I could only walk around outside because the second group of 2 human missions were living inside. The first group of 8 left the facility after a little over 2 years of living in there full time.

The biosphere was built between the years of 1988 - 1991 with private money at a cost of 150 million dollars and is now operated by the University of Arizona.  It is considered one of the man made wonders of the world.


It is located on Highway 77 between Phoenix and Tucson.


Some facts:

• The facility is 3.14 acres
• 91 feet at its highest point
• 6,500 windows and 7,200,000 cubic feet of sealed glass
• sealed from the earth below by a 500 ton welded stainless steel liner
• 34.5 acre campus

The Orchard - where all the fruits were grown to sustain the humans inside.

The ocean. There really are fish and plant life in there. They have never added food in all these years.

The rainforest.

Mangroves and swamp

Desert.

Living inside

The kitchen. Each member of the group was required to prepare a certain amount of meals. It was very important to not waste food because there was no way to replace it. I think they had enough nutrients but not enough calories and this was part of the reason the experiment ended. I think there were also incidents of food stealing.

This was taken through glass but shows the room each participant had to themselves.

There were also many labs and computer areas for monitoring everything from the humans blood levels to the oxygen levels in the air to the water content.

Probably the most interesting feature was the lungs. They were built so that when the air inside became hotter and expanded it would have somewhere to go and when the air cooled down and contracted there was someplace to get some extra.  That round building in the background is one of two built although it was proven during the experiment only one was needed.

This is the loooonnnngggggg ramp which led down to the lung and carried the air in and out of the facility.

You can't see very well in this picture but the room at the end of the tunnel is a big dome about 1 1/2 football fields. When the air goes out the ceiling is almost on the floor. When it is full of air the ceiling is stories high.

It is air tight so when you go in one door you are sucked out and sucked in at the other door.

All of the water, including waste was recycled.

Now the facility is inhabited by scientist conducting many different experiments. This is comparing different kinds of solar panels to figure out which are most efficient.

All of these buildings are new since I was there in the 90's. They are offices, classrooms, labs, a conference center and residential housing. There is even a cafe and a movie theater.

Biosphere 2 is open almost every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can walk around on your own but to tour inside you must buy a $20 ticket. I found a coupon in a local magazine for $5.00 off. It was well worth it.

B2science.org