Friday, January 29, 2010

Some call it fusion; I call it ugly--Arcosanti

A 1970 experiment of living in the desert. Paolo Soleri began construction on this experimental town in the Arizona desert nearly 40 years ago. Still going. Still ugly. If you read this blog often, you know I read all my husband’s professional journals, newsletters and e-mails. During our 50 year marriage I’ve been through the modern and post-modern phases (i.e. from buildings that look like tall cereal boxes lined up on a shelf to those that look like funnel cakes with gargoyles attached). I don’t just read about them; we tour them--sometimes on our own, sometimes with groups. Lately everything is about going green. It’s where the money is. And architects and builders are lobbying Congress hard to throw more ARRA money their way so they can tear down what their fathers did in the 70s and get some do-over money. I can’t think of anything I’ve seen recently that looks less friendly to the environment than blobs of concrete in a desert. This video has a number of stories on it--I only watched the Soleri one. Construction video. Maybe after I've had my coffee. . .

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