History of Arcosanti

From blending the Italian words “cosa” and “anti,” meaning “against things,” Soleri named both his architectural design studio and the nonprofit foundation he founded “Cosanti,” as a deliberate critique of the rampant culture of consumerism he saw taking hold in the world. Cosanti – whether as a place of imaginative, provocative architectural experiments or a foundation exploring a built world in balance with the environment – both embody a radically different perspective and aesthetic.

In 1970, The Cosanti Foundation began construction of Arcosanti, a prototype arcology in the higher-elevation Arizona desert that proved to become a testing ground for Soleri’s progressive urban planning concepts. Over the subsequent decades, workshop volunteers, known as Arcosanti Alumni, began to build the iconic architecture of the Arcosanti we know today.

Though the original design of Arcosanti is described in Arcology: The City in the Image of Man, Soleri’s magnum opus on arcology, called for a place where thousands of people would live and work, Arcosanti has never been occupied by more than 100 people. Despite that, it continues to be regarded as an early example of sustainable architecture and vertically-dense building that prioritized live-work spaces and the surrounding natural environment over urban sprawl. Dubbed “the urban laboratory” in the 1970s by famed New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, Arcosanti continues to experiment and test its own potential as a working alternative to urban sprawl, erosion of communities, and neglect of the environment while supporting its residents to lead lives that are enriched socially, energetically, and economically.