The legacy of architect, ecological pioneer, urban philosopher, artist and craftsman, Paolo Soleri (1919– 2013) thrives at Cosanti in Paradise Valley and Arcosanti in Cordes Junction, 70 miles north of Phoenix. Also in Arizona, admirers remember him for the Soleri Bridge crossing the Arizona Canal at Camelback Road in downtown Scottsdale.
From the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s, Soleri and a cadre of apprentices and volunteers students designed and built Cosanti. These structures include the Earth House (1956), Pumpkin Apse/Barrel Vaults (1967), Soleri Studio (1959), CatCast Home (1965), Gallery (1961) and canopied Pool (1966); they represent Soleri’s pioneering vision to create a habitat balancing human needs and the environment.
Designated a culturally significant site on the Arizona State Registry of Historic Places, Cosanti is also where Soleri perfected his “earth-casting” technique for building structures and procedures for casting the now-famous bells; where he designed his great unbuilt bridges; and where he wrote Arcology: The City in the Image of Man, which inspired him to build Arcosanti.