The Alternative Arcosanti Project considers the legitimate and even compelling aspects of Arcosanti and its supporting vision that its founder Paolo Soleri called Arcology. The Lean Alternative is used to refer to a proposal to consider that a fundamental change in how the project now operates is necessary for its success. The status quo will not work to keep humanity going effectively in to the 21st centiry.
Soleri himself touched on this by rejecting reformist thinking and seeking something more revolutionary - a fundamental reformulation the way our society thinks about reality, later in life in his School of Thought Discussions. This reformulation of thinking is the necessary foundation for changing the way we do things and how we build habitats and cities.
However any time someone sought to consider whether Arcosanti also needed to be "reformulated," Soleri opted for the status quo. After his death, change has been slow to come at Arcosanti.
Here we consider some of the thoughtful reasons for the need for change, exploring each section of this unique project and evaluating it.
Like the name implies the goal is to help put forward a discussion on how to reformulation Arcosanti and come up with a alternative plan for the development of Arcosanti. In that process, its anticipated that a new way of doing things could be envisioned at Arcosanti, inspiring people to consider how real change could manifest at Arcosanti.
One goal here is to examine how to more effectively move the project forward so that it can reach some key goals relating to becoming a model Arcology development such as:
Develop a prototype that can be replicated at a global scale.
Invite collaborators to develop a strong social network to support the realization of the prototype Critical Mass through research and development
Consider the idea of Arcosanti as not so much Paolo's project but a shared collaborative effort of the 7000 or so people who have participated in the Arcosanti workshop since 1970
Create a strategy that includes a stakeholder model that invites alumni back into the project as potential co-owners who would be encouraged to invest their resources into helping realize the shared vision of Arcosanti
See Project Definition Page for more details.