Cosanti
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
6433 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd.
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
Free Admission: Mon-Sat 9AM-5PM & Sun 11AM-5PM
Cosanti is the gallery, studio and residence of Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri, located in Paradise Valley, Arizona and open to the public, featuring terraced landscaping with experimental earth-formed concrete structures.
Soleri is best known for Arcosanti, the prototype arcology community founded in the high desert in 1970, approximately 70 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, a site which is still relatively remote. Cosanti is where Soleri and his late wife Colly Soleri had established their residence in metropolitan Phoenix several years before, in 1956, on a site just a few miles away from Taliesin West (where Soleri studied), and which has since been surrounded by suburban multi-million dollar luxury houses. Cosanti has been designated as an Arizona historic site.
The words Cosanti, Arcosanti, and arcology, were invented by Paolo. Arcology is a word Paolo created by combining the words "architecture" and "ecology". Cosanti is a word created by fusing together two Italian words: "cosa" meaning things, and "anti" meaning against. Arcosanti was created by combining the words "arcology" and "Cosanti".
Cosanti includes a series of structures including the original "Earth House" which is partially underground, student dorms, outdoor studios, performance space, a swimming pool, a gift shop, and Soleri's residence, all amidst courtyards, terraces, and garden paths, and carefully desert-landscaped.
The general orientation of the buildings is important. Many are situated below ground level and surrounded by mounds of earth. This acts as natural insulation to help moderate interior temperatures year round. Soleri also designed south-facing apses (partial domes) situated as passive energy collectors, accepting the light and heat of the lower winter sun, and creating shade from the higher summer sun. Other structures such as the pool have southern exposures to maximize the warmth of the winter sun.
The buildings at Cosanti are not intended as examples of the arcology concept, but many of its principles are at work here. Most of these structures were built using the earth casting method or one of Soleri’s variations on the technique. Concrete was poured over pre-shaped earthen molds, and the earth excavated once the concrete solidified. The result is innovative, biomorphic and environmentally responsible. A modified earth casting technique is also used to craft the bronze and ceramic wind-bells produced here and at Arcosanti. The dramatic bronze casting process can be viewed weekday mornings at both Cosanti’s foundry and Arcosanti's foundry.
