[GSBN] Fw: Arcosanti, an Early Eco-City, Faces the Future - NYTimes article

[Danny Buck]

Arcosanti, an Early Eco-City, Faces the Future - NYTimes articleMartin,

As a "graduate" of some Arcosanti workshops in the 70's I have my personal frustrations with the place and would also acknowledge that it strongly influenced me and has probably affected my career more than I know.

I would love to see someone present some of the 7,000 mentioned in the article and where they have gone and what they have done. I think it could be quite impressive.

Thanks for passing it on.

Danny Buck
President, Daniel Buck Construction
Santa Fe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: martin hammer<mailto:mfhammer at pacbell.net> 
To: GSBN<mailto:GSBN at SustainableSources.com> 
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 6:47 AM
Subject: [GSBN] Arcosanti, an Early Eco-City,Faces the Future - NYTimes article


All,

Thought I would pass on this New York Times article about Arcosanti, the experimental ecological city in the Arizona desert, conceived and begun by Italian visionary architect Paolo Soleri in 1970.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/garden/an-early-eco-city-faces-the-future.html?pagewanted=1<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/garden/an-early-eco-city-faces-the-future.html?pagewanted=1>

Judge the article yourself, but I find the tone troubling.  Mostly it alternates between positive (and not unrealistic) statements from current Arcosanti citizens, and backhanded denigrating comments from the writer.  

It also says nothing about former Arcosanti citizens who are out in the world doing great work, solving some of the persistent problems Arcosanti set out to tackle, and the importance of Soleri's influence in this regard.  I know one such individual, Richard Register, who in California went on to found Urban Ecology and then Ecocity Builders (www.ecocitybuilders.org) which now conducts major worldwide conferences to serve its goal to "reshape cities for the long-term health of human and natural systems."

I visited Arcosanti in 1990, and although it exhibited and continues to exhibit its shortcomings, and one could even say failures, its dismissal by this writer, seems to me more of an indictment of our culture (that this writer seems to speak for) than an accurate reflection of the successes, failures, and importance of Arcosanti. 

Martin

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