I like how my delivery work can turn into a day trip for photos. It’s not something I could do in an office job where they expect you to be at your desk looking busy all day.
Last Thursday I had a quick delivery to the outskirts of Phoenix and decided to see if I could get paid to go back with a trip. Otherwise that afternoon traffic in construction going East on the 101 was a no-go. I received a round trip with a group of young transplants from Chicago and they mentioned Sedona at some point.
Hmmm I was a third of the way there already. Hell why not? Right about the turn off point to Sedona my gut told me to pull off and check the map. I pull into a gas station to review Google maps as the afternoon sun was about to drop quick, it didn’t leave room for much exploration.
For some reason Arcosanti popped into my head and I Googled it. What? It’s where? No lie, I look up and was staring at the road sign pointing to Arcosanti. My observation skills were on point.
It’s a long bumpy road past some other local business or ranches. At the end is a small dirt parking lot and a paved path to the entrance. Met this orange tabby along the way.
Arcology = Architecture and Ecology
Paolo Soleri is the visionary behind Arcosanti. If you are not familiar with either check out the website it’s an entire college course once you enter the rabbit hole.
Arcosanti showcases the principals of Arcology or Architecture and Ecology. If you look back at the cover image there is a stair encasement to the right that leads to the visitor areas.
Taliesin West is where Paolo studied for a while after earning his doctorate in Italy. The use of land and architecture goes back to ancient history most of my observations are Arcosanti uses Roman and Egyptian technology for heating, cooling, and lighting.
The basic thought is we are wasting space, wasting time, wasting resources, causing pollution, and most importantly removing ourselves from nature one street at a time. An Arcologically developed city would condense populations to make use of resources more efficiently. Think of science/fiction space exploration movies with an entire city housed in one ship.
Once I made it to the third floor visitor center I took a look around and held off on more photos. Eventually I was greeted by someone and paid for the $15 tour. Depending on the time you can buy lunch and even stay the night. I was told photos were ok (free advertising) and to have a seat where this Wind Bell was on display next to the tour video playing.
As the video ended we got the spiel from our tour guide. Our tour group consisted of me and another dude, so easy day for her.
Our first stop was the ceramic workshop/amphitheater. This time of year is gorgeous for working outdoors in the shade with a light breeze. Come summer I would be interested in seeing the temps and probably will for a chance to get better night shots.
I’ll be honest my listening became selective at this point as I was there to take pictures and my camera needed attention. Our tour guide probably was glad we didn’t have a ton of questions too.
Checkout the gallery below for some of the shots on the guided tour.
Visitors Trail
There’s also a non-guided tour persay, but it won’t get you inside very far. Although a great place for a panoramic shot of Arcosanti. At the bottom of the stair encasement is the door to the Visitors Trail. The end of the trail is marked with a kite shaped awning on a single pole, which is on the other side of the valley. It’s maybe a mile long in total, down the valley, up the other side and back. A little slippery in spots, but not incredibly challenging. I did it in my driving shoes.
Future Plans
I’m going to look into the overnight stay a little more. I left wanting to spend more time making the right adjustments, catching the right light, the right angle, setting up HDR shots.
Along the way home I decided to stop and visit Bloody Basin – Agua Fria National Monument for my sunset shot. Ended up being more interested in making this composite of the Orion constellation. The brightest star, Betelgeuse, is spinning off plasma as it moves through the universe. Turns out what I was observing was dust.
Well anyways thanks for reading, go check Arcosanti out for yourself. Certainly worth a quick stop on your way north.
