Paolo Soleri

Paolo Soleri, b. Turin, Italy, June 21, 1919, is a visionary designer whose utopian "arcology" "demands a transfiguration of the earth without defiling or disfiguring its own cosmic aspects" by housing human society in a few highly compact megastructures.

After emigrating to the United States in 1947 and studying with Frank Lloyd Wright, Soleri made his home in Arizona, where since 1970, he has planned and supervised the building of Arcosanti, a small-scale urban habitat. Resident students help with the building, which Soleri believes will offer a model alternative to the destructive effects of "sclerotic, asphyxiated" human society.

Bibliography:
Soleri, Paolo, Arcology (1969),
The Sketchbooks (1971),
The Bridge between Matter and Spirit Is Matter Becoming Spirit (1973), and Arcosanti (1983);
Wall, Donald, Visionary Cities (1971).