Arcosanti - An Urban Laboratory in the Arizona Desert.

SOLERI: MESA CITY TO ARCOSANTI

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Arizona

January 26 - April 28, 2013

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) hosts a Soleri Exhibition that features Mesa City project, his first major urban proposal on paper, to the present Arcosanti.

Macro Cosanti Project (1963)    

In 2010, SMoCA initiated a series of three exhibitions exploring the trajectory of Paolo Soleri's art, architecture and philosophy. Paolo Soleri: Mesa City to Arcosanti is the second in the series. This exhibition will begin in the early 1960s when Soleri shifted his focus from bridges and residences to large-scale urban planning based on environmental accountability. Soleri's first comprehensive vision of a community is Mesa City, an example of highly complex urban morphology, later evolved into “arcology,” an urban theory based on the synthesis of architecture + ecology. In Mesa City, Soleri explored a vibrant urban space created by high-density living and amenity arrangements, while respecting surrounding environment and promoting resourcefulness. The exhibition will also features Macro Cosanti, a precursor to Arcosanti (arcology + Cosanti), a project under construction since 1970 near Mayer, Arizona. Macro Cosanti exercise served as a bridge between Mesa City and Arcosanti (Arcology).