Cosanti: Paolo Soleri's Phoenix Stories
Posted on 16-03-2023 12:58 AM
Cosanti: Paolo Soleri's Phoenix Stories
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/phoenix-b9e1326a4c614de289fda701bf6a5ad0.jpg)
PHX Stories: Paolo Soleri's Cosanti
Cosanti
As Bebe Rebozo became a household name, an artsy college boyfriend convinced me to see Cosanti in an undeveloped part of Paradise Valley. Having been raised in gentle suburban settings, when I saw the five-acre site dotted with mesquite, creosote, and cottonwoods, I had to take a moment to process what I was seeing. My eyes fell upon a phantasmagorical mashup of Tolkien imagery,
There's a Flintstones cave dwelling, a Star Wars space colony, and a hippie commune dotted with gigantic pots, adorned with primitive images and wind bells. Everywhere I looked, I saw gigantic ovens for firing ceramics and casting bronze bells, undulating roof structures that sheltered working spaces, barrel-vaulted cubes that housed studios, and an improbable concrete canopy hoisted onto telephone poles to shelter a freeform swimming pool. Wandering around for a long time, I tried to comprehend what I saw.
It was the home and studio of the architect, artist and urban theorist Paolo Soleri, who dedicated his life to pushing the boundaries of architecture, art and urban planning by using Cosanti as a living laboratory, from which he plotted and launched his well-known Arcosanti experimental city on a Phoenix desert mesa north of Phoenix. Soleri died in 2013, but the Cosanti studio remains today as a living architecture laboratory, art studio, and visitor attraction. The bronze and ceramic bells for which he is known still dangle attractively.
The Soleri road to Arizona and Cosanti began in Turin, Italy, explains Roger Tomalty, who first worked with Soleri in 1970. Currently, he serves as co-president of the nonprofit Cosanti Foundation and holds several positions at Cosanti and Arcosanti. As soon as Soleri finished his studies in architecture in Italy, he arrived in Arizona to apprentice with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West. It was Wright's studio structure, which involved apprentices getting hands-on experience, that drew him to the Sonoran Desert. Wright's architectural principles, however, did not agree with him.
Soleri believed cities must be compacted and highly social, while outlying land should be left untouched, so residents can enjoy both urban and wilderness life. Wright advocated single-family homes and suburban development. In the wake of Wright's departure, Soleri soon found himself homeless, living with a fellow ex- Taliesin apprentice on the side of Camelback Mountain.
In 1953, Soleri bought the Paradise Valley site for $12,000, and his family (which included two daughters) lived in the old ranch house. Using two Italian words meaning against, he called it Cosanti. As a way to reject materialism artistically, he did this.
Soleri earned his living by casting ceramic wind bells, pots, platters, lighting fixtures, and more in the silty earth on his property, selling them to Fifth Avenue shops and galleries in downtown Scottsdale, where tourists sought them out. Adding a foundry near his ceramics kiln, he started experimenting with bronze bells as well. In comparison with midcentury designs favored at the time, his designs are futuristic, sculptural, and flowing. Despite being a full-time architect by day, Soleri couldn't quite abandon his architectural training at night. In his sketches, he created abstract visions of future cities, bridges, and buildings.
Using a similar approach to making ceramics, Soleri designed and built his first structure on the property in 1956, known as Earth House. In order to create a livable space, he carved a rounded pile of earth, covered it with concrete, and excavated it. A drafting studio and Phoenix ceramics studio followed in 1958, both constructed with earth-casting techniques.
Tomalty says Paolo stopped building at Cosanti when he started Arcosanti. That was his focus. The truth is, he never lived there. Every week, he spent a night or two there, but returned home to Cosanti, where he could work without interference. The creative juices flowed from here.
His last architectural project, the Soleri Bridge and Plaza commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art for the Arizona Canal in downtown Scottsdale, took place in 2010, as Soleri worked at Cosanti until his death. Soleri wrote, lectured, organized exhibitions, and occasionally took on architectural projects.
It is notable that Cosanti has remained open since Soleris' passing. It is in the process of being restored and improved. On a regular basis, the site is available for public guided tours and for individual tours. Those interested in getting hands-on experience with Soleris philosophy can still take workshops at Cosanti and Arcosanti. Additionally, the Cosantis bronze foundry and ceramics studio are open for tours, and the on-site gallery sells Cosantis bells, which range from 22 inches long to large enough to dangle from a two-story foyer. Soleri's original designs are translated into silver jewelry, silk scarves, and ceramic vessels based on the Hand of Soleri. In the jewelry, Tomalty says Soleris imagery is translated from the bells, and in his scarves, he has based them on sketches.
The occasional visit to Cosanti still pleases me, especially when I have out-of-town visitors visiting and can walk there. Nowadays, I am not so much interested in the structures and bells as I am in seeing the expressions of my visitors as they wander around, trying to understand Cosanti and the genius of Soleri.
Strobe Sport
2737 E Arizona Biltmore Cir UNIT 28, Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: (707) 878-7623
https://www.strobesport.com/