Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dealing with Diverse Personalities: Cohousing Retreat at Arcosanti

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Alice  Alexander quoted:
>Marty Maskall, who writes:
>
>"I have wanted to visit Arcosanti for some time because it's such an
>exciting urban laboratory.
>...
>-- Marty Maskall, future resident of Fair Oaks EcoHousing"

We stopped by Arcosanti years ago and describing it as an
"exciting urban laboratory" struck me as inconsistant with my memory.

So I looked up Arcosanti on Wikipedia...

Conclusion: Arcosanti is indeed an "urban laboratory" but is located
in a very rural area (high desert) and to me more resembles an ecovillage
with 50-150 residents.  Try looking it up in Google Maps satellite view
and zoom out a ways.

NOTE: my post about "Fair Oaks estimated schedule" was mistakenly
sent to the list; I intended to send it to Marty directly.

Fred


Some details from Wikipedia:

 The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which
 combines architecture and ecology. The project has the goals of
 combining the social interaction and accessibility of an urban
 environment with sound environmental principles, such as minimal
 resource use and access to the natural environment.[1] The project has
 been building an experimental town on 25 acres (10 ha) of a 4,060-acre
 (1,640 ha) land preserve.

 Ground was broken in 1970 to begin construction on the site, and has
 continued at a varying pace through the present. The most recently
 completed building was finished in 1989.[2] The population has tended
 to vary between 50 and 150 people, many of them students and
 volunteers. Ultimately, the goal has been for Arcosanti to house a
 population of 5,000 people.[3] Thirteen major structures have been
 built on the site to date, some several stories tall. One master plan,
 designed in 2001, envisions a massive complex, called "Arcosanti
 5000", that would dwarf the current buildings.


 Arcology, a portmanteau of "architecture" and "ecology",[2] is a field
 of creating architectural design principles for very densely
 populated, ecologically low-impact human habitats.

 The concept has been primarily popularized, and the term itself
 coined, by architect Paolo Soleri.  It also appears in science fiction.
 For example, Peter Hamilton uses arcologies in his books such as
 Neutronium Alchemist. Arcologies are often portrayed in science
 fiction as self-contained or economically self-sufficient.

 These structures have been largely hypothetical insofar as no
 arcology, even one envisioned by Soleri himself, has yet been
 completed, but he posited that a completed arcology would provide
 space for a variety of residential, commercial, and agricultural
 facilities while minimizing individual human environmental impact.



--
I support Bernie Sanders for President but would support Hillary.
Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north Mpls)
     Email:        fholson at cohousing.org      612-588-9532
My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org