Arcology Marchzoo7 1

M
a
r
c
h

2
0
0
7

I
s
s
u
e

0
1
ARCOLOGY
Where Architecture Meets Ecology
Alumni Photojournal
The Rise of the EcoCity
Via Deliziosa


p
h
o
t
o
:

S
a
a
t
c
h
i
Arcology Marchzoo7 1
Inside view:
Arcology
is Ecological
Architecture
Using pricipals
such as simplicity,
complexifcation,
minutuization and
duration, Arcosanti
is a prototype
Arcology in the
high desert region
of Arizona
6
Via Delizioso the road to Arcosanti 19
Rise of the Eco-City by Fiona Harvey 8
State of Arcology editorial 4
Photojournal a look inside Arcology 12
This publication was realized by Jill Whitelaw. Including most of the photographs, with the exception
of page 3 by Cody (HDR) and photo of J.W. by S.W.Riley. The illustration on page 19 is from Paolos
sketchbook. Thank you to Melissa Augustine-Kaup and her design team for reading and editing.
4 Marchzoo7 Arcology
A growing concept in the 60s, Paolo Soleri was i nspi red by Frank Lloyd Wright,
and was reverse- inspired by the by the urban sprawl of Phoenix. Arcology was a
coming trend. The environment was a big issue, and slowly and steadily over the
last 35 years, Paolo and band of dedicated supporters have found a way to fulfll
the dream. Arcosanti may not be as massive as they had once thought it would
be by this time, but it retains its integrity, and is true to Paolos concept and
design. They started with the vaults: a large shade structure atop the mesa, still
the largest monumental structure at Arcosanti, and have recently completed the
second half of the East Crescent which wraps around the amphitheater. Arcosanti
has been successful in its mission of becoming a prototype Arcology. It now
offers tours of what will later be called Old Town, to 50,000 visitors a year. A large
part of Arcosantis success is that it is able to demonstrate these concepts and
infuence architects, designers and visionaries. One such Architect is Jean Jerdi.
The Jerde Partnership is a visionary architecture and urban planning frm that
designs unique places that deliver memorable experiences and attract millions
of people everyday. Nearly 800 million people visit Jerde-designed Places every
year. Jerde uses the multi-use concept heavily, keeps his structures compact,
integrates organic shapes , and designs with nature. He has acknowledged Paolo
as a great infuence in his work. Arcosanti is the frst and some may argue, the
only Arcology existing today. This magazine will therefore have a heavy focus
on that project, especially in this frst issue, as it is the original, the model.
Arcology * Marchzoo7 4
Arcology hAs come A long wAy in 35 yeArs.
p
h
o
t
o
:

C
o
d
y
R
Marchzoo7 Arcology
Arcology Marchzoo7 7
Arcology is PAolo soleris concept of cities
which embody the fusion of architecture with
ecology. The arcology concept proposes a highly
integrated and compact three-dimensional 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 complexifcation
and miniaturization of the city enables radical
conservation of land, energy and resources.
An ar col ogy woul d need about t wo
percent as much land as a typical city of similar
population. Todays 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 arcol ogy desi gn woul d put
living, working and public spaces within easy
reach of each other and walking would be the
main form of transportation within the city.
An arcologys direct proximity to uninhabited
wilderness would provide the city dweller with
constant immediate and low-impact access
to rural space as well as allowing agriculture
to be situated near the city, maximizing the
logistical effciency of food distribution systems.
Arcology would use passive solar architectural
techniques such as the apse effect, greenhouse
architecture and garment architecture to reduce
the energy usage of the city, especially in terms
of heating, lighting and cooling. Overall, arcology
seeks to embody a Lean Alternative to hyper
consumption and wastefulness through more
frugal, ef ficient 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 signifcant city in history.
8 Marchzoo7 Arcology
In the midst of the Arizona
desert in the US stands a half-
built town that has attracted
architects from around the
world for the past 35 years. Arcosanti is an experiment in
ecological city design. There are no cars since the space
is planned for pedestrians, and there are large, compact
living structures built next to huge solar-heated greenhouses
where the residents food is grown. Electricity comes from
wind and solar plants, and the water from the nearby river is
carefully husbanded. Only 60 to 100 people live there now, well
below the 5,000 that Paolo Soleri, the architect who founded
Arcosanti, envisions. But since the project launched in 1970, 6,000
architectural students have come to help with the building and
learn about its design, and the site attracts 50,000 visitors every year.
The aim of the town is to emphasise the benefits of city
life and provide a contrast to endless sprawling suburbs built on
The
Rise
of
the
EcoCity
By Fiona
Harvey
Arcology Marchzoo7 9
its growing population while still protecting its
natural resources from the effects of urbanization
and industrialization. The government has
realized that residents desire for a higher
quality of life, with cars, washing machines and
other modern conveniences must be balanced
against the need to protect them from water
shortages, smog and pollution and to prevent
the desertifcation of former agricultural land.
In fact, the country is building the worlds
first fully fledged eco-city in Dongtan, near
Shanghai, on an island three quarters of the
size of Manhattan that sits in the mouth of the
Yangtse river, providing a home to thousands of
rare birds, plants and other species in its wetlands.
The contract for the planning of the city was
awarded to Arup, the engineering consultancy, in
August, and the company is tasked with making
the city as close to carbon neutral as possible,
repl aci ng al most al l of the envi ronmental
resources it uses. Renewable energy will be a
key part of the plan, with energy coming from
waste and combined heat and power plants. At
present, most of the island is agricultural land.
By 2010, the frst phase should be complete,
and an exhibition will be held to showcase
the development. Peter Head, a director of
Arup involved in the project, thinks Dongtan
the environmentally unfriendly model of the
American dream of single families with a car or
two cars, explains Mary Hoadley, Arcosantis site
coordinator, who, with her husband and now
her daughter, has lived there from the outset.
Gathering a greater density of people to live
and work in one place not only benefits the
environment, by requiring less expenditure of
energy for things like heating and travel, but
also allows people to feel part of a community.
The word civilization comes from the same root
as city, Hoadley explains. And living here is
fantastic. We started with the energy of the 1960s
but this is something that has stayed the course.
Although the town is still less than half-
built (We thought wed have built it in five
years and then travel the world building more
villages, Hoadley explains, but capital proved
hard to come by), Soleris ideas have been
an inspiration to subsequent generations of
architects. A retrospective of his work opened
in Rome last month, and he will visit China
shortly in order to explain his philosophy
of arcol ogya mi xture of archi tecture
and ecol ogyto gover nment pl anner s.
China may be the next centre for ecological
city design since it needs to build the equivalent
of several cities a year in the next decade to house
sends a message that Chinas government is willing to
fnd ways of overcoming the challenges of creating
sustainable cities in the face of significant climate
change, environmental pollution, water shortages
and the need for the use of cl eaner energy.
Projects such as Dongtan aim to build on
Arcosanti and show that whol e ci ti es can be
environmentally benign, instead of dirty and
damaging. But managing the lives of several million
people in a way that respects the environment is
a big leap from creating a smallunfnishedeco-
community in the middle of the countryside
or the desert. When the economic reality sets
in, and it looks as if these cities will cost more to
build in the short term, short termism might take
over and the environmental aspects will be forgotten,
warns Andy von Bradsky, director of PRP Architects.
St i l l , even i f Chi na does n t r eal i ze i t s
vi si on of eco-metropol i ses, smal l er towns and
ci ti es across the worl d are usi ng Arcosanti as an
exampl e and t aki ng s teps to gr een t hemsel ves.
In the UK, Newcastle hopes to become carbon neutral
by encouraging energy efficiency, generating electricity
from renewable sources and planting trees. In the US, Eco-
City Cleveland is helping its local government use eco-friendly
principles. And in Germany, the eco-buildings of Freiburg in
the Black Forest have made it a tourist attraction. I dont think
youd be able to sell a house in Freiburg if it wasnt environmentally
friendly, says Bill Dunster, principal at Zedfactory, the UK architects.
Bo01 (pronounced Bo-Nol-Net), in Malm, Sweden for example, is an
eco-friendly district with schools, shops, restaurants, a park, a beachfront
boardwalk and now more than 1,000 residents. Launched as a government project
to revive the formerly industrial port along the Western Harbour it was named after
10 Marchzoo7 Arcology
2001, the year it opened,
and the Swedish word for
dwell. Housing ranges from
single-family homes to a residential
high-rise (architect Santiago Calatrava
recently added a 54-storey tower called the
Turni ng Torso) and al l construction fol lows strict
envi ronmental gui del i nes. The energy comes from sun,
wi nd and water, and residents electrici ty use i s restricted to about
hal f of whats usual i n Sweden; a l ar ge par t of t he towns heat i s ext r acted f r om gr oundwater.
The idea initially was to get to grips with this old industrial land on the fringe of the city, says Trevor
Gr a h a m, p r o j e c t ma n a g e r a t Ma l m s e n v i r o n me n t d e p a r t me n t . T h e c o n c e p t
wa s t o cr eat e t he ci t y of t omor r owa s us t ai nabl e ci t y mar r yi ng t oget her qual i t y
of l i f e, good ar chi - t ec t ur e, good ur ban pl anni ng and envi r onment al i s s ues .
In al l these cases, archi tects and pl anners are gi vi ng up on the i dea of an
enti re utopi an eco-ci ty and i nstead taki ng over an exi sti ng street by
str eet or bui l di ng up one nei ghbour hood at a ti me.
Arcology Marchzoo7 11
Thanksgiving 2006:
a group of Arcosanti Alumni returned to visit
old friends and reunite. The following pages
represent a photojournal as they toured the
newly built sections and enjoyed the city.
Opposite page: Teri Grinlinton,
former workshop coordinator.
Arcology 11
14 Marchzoo7 Arcology
Arcology Marchzoo7 1s
1 Marchzoo7 Arcology
Arcology Marchzoo7 17
Residents:
Dedicated residents of Arcosanti relax during the
winter, playing golf and having a New Years day picnic.
The desert forms close bonds. Seen here is Darina
from Bulgaria, Jung Ju from North Korea, Michael
Bitman solar electrician, Scott Riley, Construction
Manager, and Carri Krueger, Kitchen Manger.
Opposite page: Carri Krueger, Tristan Tollas, Zeb.
18 Marchzoo7 Arcology
Arcology Marchzoo7 19
V
i
a

D
e
l
i
z
i
o
s
a
Arcosanti will then have a very telling umbilical cord, a
picture-full lasagna connecting itat both physical and
meta-physical levelswith surrounding reality.
Paolo Soleri
Via Deliciosa
is the name of
the 2. 5 mi le
road l eadi ng
into Arcosanti.
Paol os i dea
is to have art
along the way,
giving the first
impression of
the city in as a
combination of
artistic meeting
t he na t ur al
l a n d s c a p e .
The r oad i s
c u r r e n t l y
unpaved. No
permits will be
given until it is.
20 Marchzoo7 Arcology