Arcosanti was started in 1970 by Paolo Soleri as a way to further promote his idea of Arcology. Seeing the rapidly expanding suburban development of Phoenix in a negative way - while it was surrounding his original Cosanti project - he sought to develop a more isolated enclave for his ambitious plan to build a prototype of his Arcology theories of urban design and development around the building of Arcosanti.
Arcosanti: Community, Construction Site or Both?
Arcosanti has sought to make itself elusive and difficult to define. It has defied categorization as the leadership under Soleri has sought to reject any association with any specific countercultural movement such as Ecovillages or Intentional Communities. The mantras over the years was that "Arcosanti was not a community it was a construction site." Despite this Arcosanti is listed on both the Intentional Communities website and that also of the Global Ecovillage Network. The policy seems to have shifted a bit - despite contradictions in communications and messaging by staff - with the current president Jeffrey Stein taking the position that Arcosanti is in fact a community and not just a construction site.
Location Transportation & Logistics:
Arcosanti is situated in the Semi-desert of central Arizona only a mile or two from Interstate 17, the interstate that cuts across the state. It is almost halfway between the state's largest city and metropolitan area Phoenix and its third largest metro area Flagstaff. Its a little closer though to Phoenix (70mi/1 hour) than Flagstaff (90mi/1.5 hour). Its also about an hour from Prescott (36mi/1 hour) via AZ 69.
There is only one entrance into Arcosanti. This used to be via what was previously called Cross L Road (named after the Cross L Ranch which in 1970 became Arcosanti) which came out of Cordes Junction. Recent improvements were made to the road and interchange at I-17. You can now access the road to Arcosanti either via Cordes Junction or the road now leading directly to the Interstate from Arcosanti, which is called Arcosanti Road.
Built Environment:
The Arcosanti built environment is complex, covering several acres on the main Mesa site. While sprawling its still relatively compact with several multi-story buildings. The tallest building is the 5 story multi-purpose Crafts III Building, the largest is East Crescent. Most residents live in The East Crescent. The buildings make heavy use of construction and often it seems not very frugal. Indeed the buildings do not seem to make any serious attempt at putting forward sustainable principles other than the fact that the people living in them are encouraged to live relatively frugal lives by following and emulating the Lean Alternative put forward by Soleri in his lifestyle.
The Land:
There is a a large area of land surrounding Arcosanti - 860 acres nestled along the Aqua Fria River Valley - that was previously a cattle ranch. In addition the Cosanti Foundation which runs Arcosanti has a long term lease from Arizona State Land Trust of some 4000 acres that surround the property it owns to the West and North. This was designed to serve as a buffer between the desire to preserve the land surrounding Arcosanti and increasing development pressures in the region. On the East is the Aqua Fria National Monument a 68000 acre preserve of ancient Anastazi and Yavapai ruins along the path of the Aqua Fria River.
Arcosanti consists of two main sites and a third which is the historical settlement of the old Cross L ranch, which preceded Arcosanti. The first the location of live, leisure and work facilities on top of the Mesa overlooking the Aqua Fria River Valley and Camp which is a secondary settlement.
Climate:
Arcosanti is considered to be in a semi-desert climate zone receiving about 16 inches of rain per year but the high evaporation rates mean that it is more like an actual desert for much of the year. Most rain comes in the winter and the Monsoonal period in mid-summer. Snows are rare and then usually melt by mid-late morning.
People:
The population has fluctuated over the years from the days when there was a large presence of people in Camp and huge workshops of 30 people or more coming in every month. Supposedly Arcosanti's population reached 150 or more. Currently about 60 people live at Arcosanti, nearly all of whom are employed by either the Cosanti Foundation of which Arcosanti is its main and primary project or Cosanti Originals which is a for profit business wholly owned by the Foundation.
Categories of Resident/Alumni Members:
Previously I sought to limit the classification to Short Medium and Long Term Stay but I got a bit more creative below:
Migratory Bird - Seasonal people who come and leave with the seasons or come and leave frquently
Alumni Frequent Flier - These are folks who don't live at Arcosanti but come back frequently and are involved in Alumni activities
Workshopp & Go - Usually not really considered community members they stay usually only for the workshops and then leave soon after not getting very involved in Arcosanti community life
Short Term (1 month - 2 years)
Medium Term - (2 years - 6 years)
Long Term/Widows Row - The long termers are the ones who handle the bulk of the management duties for Cosanti Originals and Cosanti Foundation.
Arcosanti despite its flaws and shortcomings is useful because it provides us with a unique vision of an integrated urban space. Yet in order to persuade the mainstream public of the vital need to change their resource intensive lifestyles, they have to begin to believe that it can actually be done. The development and refinement of the Arcosanti vision might form an important element in the creation of organizations, and corporations--or even better, a vast social movement of people who dedicate their lives to this new paradigm of socioeconomic development-- that would go around the world redeveloping, redesigning as well as building new cities, employing alternative technologies and understandings of reality in a more integrated and holistic way.