By Rory Stott
Paolo Soleri, the visionary architect who sadly passed away in April, would have turned 94 today. A countercultural icon and disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, Soleri is best known for his theory of “arcology” – a combination of architecture and ecology – and for Arcosanti, the prototype town in the Arizona desert which embodied his ideals and became his life’s work.
Soleri’s affinity with Frank Lloyd Wright is clear from his countercultural ideology; however, whereas Wright’s utopian design for Broadacre City proposed urban sprawl, Arcosanti is a proposal for the opposite: an “urban implosion” where cities are incredibly dense and rural areas are left untouched. This is the materialisation of Soleri’s theories of arcology.
Soleri is remembered not just for his remarkable designs but also for his proposals of an alternative way of life. We invite you today to discover more about the great man:
- Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti: The City in the Image of Man
- Paolo Soleri’s Bridge Design Collection: Connecting Metaphor
- Remembering Paolo Soleri 1919-2013
Source:: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ArchDaily/~3/zfEP9qOGI0Y/happy-birthday-paolo-soleri
