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Arcology, a portmanteau of the words "architecture" and "ecology",^[1] is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats (hyperstructures) of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures would contain a variety of residential, commercial, and agricultural facilities and minimize individual human environmental impact. They are often portrayed as self-contained or economically self-sufficient.

The concept has been primarily popularized, and the term itself coined, by architect Paolo Soleri, and appears commonly in science fiction.

Development[link]

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An arcology is distinguished from a merely large building in that it is supposed to sustainably supply all or most of the resources for a comfortable life: power, climate control, food production, air and water purification, sewage treatment, etc.. It is supposed to supply these items for a large population. An arcology would need no connections to municipal or urban infrastructure in order to operate.

Arcologies were proposed to reduce human impacts on natural resources. Arcology designs often apply conventional building and civil engineering techniques in very large, but practical projects in order to achieve economies that are difficult to achieve in other ways. Frank Lloyd Wright proposed an early version^[2] called Broadacre City. His plan described transportation, agriculture, and commerce systems that would support an economy. Critics said that Wright's solution failed to account for population growth, and assumed a more rigid democracy than the U.S. actually has.

Paolo Soleri proposed later solutions, and coined the term 'arcology'.^[3] Soleri describes ways of compacting city structures in three dimensions to combat two-dimensional urban sprawl, and economize on transportation and other energy uses. Soleri's plans aren't just "human beehives." Like Wright, Soleri proposed important changes in transportation, agriculture, and commerce. Soleri explored reductions in resource consumption and duplication, land reclamation, and proposed to eliminate most private transportation. He favored greater use of shared social resources like public libraries.

Similar real-world projects[link]

The largest arcology project under current development is Masdar City near Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. It is projected to house between 45,000 and 50,000 inhabitants on 6 square kilometers, and to have a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero waste ecology.

Arcosanti is an experimental town under construction in central Arizona. Designed by Paolo Soleri, its primary purpose is to demonstrate principles of arcology.

Many cities in the world have proposed projects adhering to the design principles of the arcology concept, like Tokyo, and Dongtan near Shanghai.^[4] The Dongtan project may have collapsed, and it failed to open for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.^[5]

Certain urban projects reflect arcological principles. Pedestrian connection systems often provide a wide range of goods and services in a single structure. Some examples include the +15 system in downtown Calgary, or the Minneapolis Skyway System and The Windscreen in Fermont, Quebec. They include supermarkets, malls and entertainment complexes. The +15 is the world's most extensive skywalk, 16 km (9.9 mi). Minneapolis has the longest single path, 13 km (8 mi). Seward's Success, Alaska was never built, but would have been a small city just outside of Anchorage. Chicago has a sizable tunnel system known as the Chicago Pedway connecting a portion of the buildings in the Chicago Loop. Co-op City in the Bronx, New York City is another example, with many services on-site.

The Las Vegas Strip has many arcological features to protect people from the 45 °C (113 °F) heat. Many major casinos are connected by tunnels, footbridges, and monorails. It is possible to travel from Mandalay Bay at the south end of the Strip to the Las Vegas Convention Center, three miles (5 km) to the north, without using streets. In many cases, it is possible to travel between several different casinos without ever going outdoors.

McMurdo Station of the United States Antarctic Program and other scientific research stations on the continent of Antarctica resemble the popular conception of an arcology as a technologically-advanced, self-sufficient human community. Although not self-sufficient (the U.S. Military "Operation Deep Freeze" resupply effort delivers 30,000 cubic metres (8 million US gal) of fuel and 5 kilotonnes (11 million pounds) of supplies and equipment yearly^[6]) the base has a very insular character, necessary to protect its population from a harsh environment. It is also isolated from conventional support networks, and must avoid damage to the surrounding ecosystem due to an international treaty. The base generates electricity with its own power plant, and grows fruits and vegetables in a hydroponic green house, when resupply is nonexistent. The base provides living and entertainment amenities for roughly 3,000 staff that visit each year.

Crystal Island is a proposed arcology in Moscow, Russia. As of 2009, construction has been postponed indefinitely due to the global economic crisis.

In 2008, the design firm Timelinks proposed a 2.3 square kilometer, 1 million inhabitant carbon-neutral super-structure to be built in Dubai, UAE. It would have many arcological concepts (see Inhabitat » ZIGGURAT: Dubai Carbon Neutral Pyramid will House 1 Million by Evelyn Lee).

Cultural references[link]

Arcologies would be dramatic, unusual structures that support a different way of life. They are naturally interesting to writers of speculative fiction. The first mention of an arcological structure might be in H. G. Wells's When the Sleeper Wakes, published in 1899. A more in-depth description of arcology's design principles can be found in "The Last Redoubt" from The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson, first published in 1912. In it Hodgson envisions structures complete with a full artificial ecology, agriculture, and public transport by mobile roadways.

An arcology is also depicted in the 1968 futuristic novel "The World Inside", by Robert Silverberg, where in the year 2381 the human race lives in 1000-storey-high towers, providing everything necessary to the society (nutrition, energy, entertainment, jobs, etc.). These buildings seem like a cross between a building and a living organism, nourishing and sheltering this futuristic dystopian society.

J. G. Ballard wrote a dystopian take on a self-contained building that is much like an arcology in his 1975 novel High Rise.

Another depiction can be found in William Gibson's 1986 novel Count Zero.

The structure "Fiddler's Green" from George A. Romero's 2005 film Land of the Dead might be an arcology.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's novel Oath of Fealty features an arcology.

Arcologies also appear in video games, such as SimCity 2000, Escape Velocity Nova, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Call to Power II, Shadowrun, and Mass Effect.

Urban Arcologies appear as a key backdrop throughout the science fiction universe of the Trinity Roleplaying Game, which includes major Arcologies depicted in the United States, The United Kingdom, China and Japan.

In popular culture[link]

Novels and comics[link]

• H.G. Wells's 1899 tale "When the Sleeper Wakes" describes a rudimentary version of pre-Soleri arcology, having developed from the evolution of transportation. They are hotel-like and dominate the surrounding landscape, having replaced all towns and cities, albeit preserving their names.^[7]
• William Hope Hodgson's 1912 novel The Night Land features the first example of what we now would call an arcology, though the future Earthlings depicted—millions of years into the future, in fact—have different reasons for building their metallic pyramid.^[8]
• In Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's collaboration Oath of Fealty (1982), much of the action is set in and around Todos Santos, an arcology built in a burnt-out section of Los Angeles that has evolved a separate culture from the city around it. Niven also occasionally refers to arcologies in his Known Space series, particularly in the stories involving Gil Hamilton, or the Pierson's Puppeteers, whose arcologies are enormous (The smallest were cubes a mile in height, length and width. Their homeworld, Hearth, is a city-planet similar to Asimov's Trantor, albeit populated by tripodal aliens.)
• In the Joe Haldeman novel The Forever War much of the action between William Mandella's first and second deployments occurs in an arcology.
• In the novel The World Inside by Robert Silverberg, everyone lives in 'Urban Monads': self-contained three-kilometer-high hyperstructures.
• In Isaac Asimov's Robot series, Earth's population lives in large hyperstructures simply called Cities. In Asimov's Empire and Foundation series, the capital planet Trantor of the galactic empire is a completely built-up planet, covered in its entirety with tall buildings and subterranean structures.
• All the remaining cities of the Earth are hyperstructures in Peter F. Hamilton's The Night's Dawn Trilogy.
• In the Judge Dredd comic stories, originally published in 2000 AD, the megalopolis of Mega-City One consists of many hundreds, if not thousands, of City Blocks, in which a citizen can be born, grow, live, and die without ever leaving.
• William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy features various arcologies, namely the "projects", which is a megastructure constructed with electricity, heat, oxygen, and food that it produced. They are also featured in the Bridge Trilogy.
• David Wingrove's Chung Kuo series depicts a dystopian future Earth in which almost the entire population lives within several hyperstructures that are thousands of feet tall and span entire continents.
• J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel High Rise featured a luxury arcology in which disparity between social classes among the residents eventually led to widespread anarchy and a reversion to primitive archetypes.
• In John Christopher's 1967-68 trilogy of novels The Tripods, an alien race known as "the Masters" live in three huge, domed arcologies built on Earth to use as a base from which to colonise the planet. The structures are made from a golden material, and are capped with a crystal that replicates the atmospheric conditions of the Masters' home planet.
• In Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga novels, the inhabitants of the planet Komarr live in arcologies, because the surface of the planet is inhospitable.
• The James Blish and Normal L. Knight collaboration A Torrent of Faces, set in the future where a trillion people inhabit the Earth, features several semi-enclosed 'cities'—massive buildings big enough to house, entertain and feed hundreds of millions of people. The city/building of London apparently extends as far as the Cornish coast.
• In the manga and anime world of BLAME! the plot takes place only in a gigantic megastructure/arcology simply called the City, which is still being expanded by its automatic systems.
• Frank Herbert's novel The Dosadi Experiment focuses on the creation of a super race through the control of another race, that forces them to live in an arcological situation.

Films and television[link]

• Arcologies are common elements in futuristic anime and manga titles. An example is the post-apocalyptic/cyberpunk series Appleseed by Masamune Shirow, in which hyperstructures dominate the skyline of the city Olympus.
• In the 1982 film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, the main offices of the fictional Tyrell Corporation (a Megacorp) resemble a hyperstructure.
• The Genom Tower arcologies (among other things) in the anime Bubblegum Crisis were partially inspired by the Tyrell hyperstructure. The series also features an underground "Geo City".
• The city in the 1976 film Logan's Run is entirely self-contained for all resources, except power, which is said to be supplied by water moved by the tides.
• In the film Equilibrium, an arcology named Libria is the last human civilization, a society in which peace is kept by the forced administration of an injected liquid drug designed to completely suppress emotions.
• In the science fiction movie series The Matrix, the last human city, known as Zion, is a hyperstructure. Due to nuclear scarring of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, the hyperstructure is buried deep underground. While ecologically sparse, the habitat's climate is controlled by complex machinery in the lower levels. The population is in the realm of 200,000. Due to the nature of the aggression from the machines, Zion is an example of a heavily fortified hyperstructure.
• In the fourth-season finale of the science fiction show Andromeda, a large battle takes place in space around an antiquated space hyperstructure known simply as 'Arcology'.
• In the episode "11:59" of Star Trek: Voyager's fifth season (original air date: May 5, 1999), Earth's first self-contained ecosystem known as "The Millennium Gate" is referenced and described as one kilometer tall and having begun construction in 2001.
• In the Star Wars prequels, the galactic capital planet Coruscant has buildings many miles tall, and approaches the completely built-over condition of Trantor in Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation trilogy (Note: due to this, Coruscant was originally to be named Jhantor but was eventually renamed Coruscant).
• In the film "Æon Flux", Earth's surviving humans live in Bregna, an enclosed and self-sufficient city-state.
• In the film and book City of Ember, the principal city is either the last or one of several underground cities used to escape a devastating war. However, the scale of the city is far below a typical Arcology, having fewer than a thousand residents.
• In the anime Wolf's Rain, ancient decaying domed cities from the times of the scientific breakthroughs shelter the remainder of humanity.
• The anime Get Backers has overarching plots involving a semi-constructed megabuilding called the Limitless Fortress. However, because its construction was abandoned, it has few inhabitants, and those it has may not all be (entirely) real.
• In the anime Code Geass, the Holy Britannian Empire constructs an arcology over the ruins of Tokyo called the Tokyo Settlement.

Video games[link]

• Will Wright's computer game SimCity 2000 allows the construction of four different types of arcologies. More primitive models hold quite a few people in exchange for producing considerable pollution, but later models are denser and cleaner. When 301 of the most advanced model, the "Launch Arco," are built, an "exodus sequence" starts in which all Launch Arcos blast into space. This parallels parts of Soleri's book, in which hyperstructures were shown as being appropriate for environments in space, under the sea, in polar lands, etc.
• Another Wright game, Spore, features bubbled cities that serve the same function. In Wright's 1990 SimEarth, "Nanotech Age" cities eventually advance to an exodus of the entire sentient species of the planet.
• Two levels of the video game Deus Ex: Invisible War posits (circa 2072) a futuristic arcology, simply called the Arcology, on the edge of an ancient medina in Cairo.
• The Domes seen in 1999 and in the 24th century in Chrono Trigger could be considered arcologies. The structure known as the Black Omen that appears across timelines after Queen Zeal summons Lavos to the Ocean Palace is defined as an arcology.
• In the computer game Afterlife, the player controlling Heaven and Hell can eventually purchase Love Domes or Omnibulges. Functioning similarly to arcologies, these structures are the remnants of transcended/destroyed Heaven/Hells that are able to hold billions of souls.
• In the computer game Civilization: Call to Power, the "Arcology Advance," found in a near future part of the technology list, grants access to the Arcology building, which reduces overcrowding effects in its host city. This is also available in Call to Power II.
• In the computer game Escape Velocity: Nova, many planets that are part of the Auroran Empire have multiple arcologies on them. Many of their populations number in the hundreds of billions.
• The tutorial in the computer game Dystopia takes place in Yggdrasil's first arcology.
• The wholly self-sustained utopian society 'Rapture' in the computer and Xbox 360 game BioShock is an underwater example of an arcology.
• The game Shadowrun (2007 video game) mentions, as one of its important world events, the construction of RNA's Santos Corporate Arcology.
• The game Shadowrun (SEGA MD video game) includes Renraku Arcology as an in-game location.
• In Mass Effect the Codex (an in-game encyclopedia) explains that Earth is composed mainly of Arcology buildings.
• In Final Fantasy VII the city of Midgar and the military base of Junon (both are built by the Shinra Company) are examples of arcology.
• In Final Fantasy VIII the city of Esthar and the flying universities of Galbadia and Balamb are arcologies.
• In the "Next War" mod, included in Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, three levels of arcologies are available as city improvements.
• The Outpost (video game) computer game and its sequel both focus on building arcologies (called 'colonies' in the game) on various planets to contain what remains of Humanity after Earth is obliterated by an asteroid.
• Eponymous city of Inganock from Seiken no Inganock: What a Beautiful People is stated to be the first and only successful arcology in its setting. At the start of the game, it has survived over 10 years in complete isolation from the rest of the world and is an example of an arcology in cyberpunk genre.
• The game Brink is set on a futuristic arcology to preserve humanity after a natural flooding disaster.^[9]

Role-playing and table-top games[link]

• In the table-top strategy game Warhammer 40,000, hyperstructures, called "hives," are extremely common and are the main method of housing large populations in the billions. Arcologies are so widespread that some planets, dubbed 'hive worlds', are constructed entirely of hyperstructures. Necromunda, an off-shoot game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, involves conflict between rival gangs on the hive world of Necromunda. Unlike the typical idea of an arcology - clean, healthy, and safe for the environment, "hives" are portrayed as dirty, diseased, overcrowded and the area around them as highly polluted.
• In the RPG Shadowrun, a number of hyperstructures such as the "Renraku Arcology" exist by 2050, most of which are mega-corporate controlled. A major theme to these is the desire of a large corporation to control every aspect of its employees' lives. A major meta-plot element was the sealing off of the aforementioned Renraku Arcology in Seattle when the advanced computer control system awakened into a self-aware AI named Deus.
• In the RPG Trinity, a number of hyperstructures exist, with the largest being that of the New New York Arcology run by the Psi-Order Orgotek.
• In the Rifts RPG, the capital of the Coalition States is the city of Chi-Town. Along with some of the other major Coalition cities, Chi-Town is considered a "Mega-City" in that its entire population is housed inside one giant structure consisting of more than thirty levels, each of which are several stories high and contain a number of sub-levels.
• The tongue-in-cheek RPG Paranoia primarily takes place in the futuristic and mostly computer controlled arcology Alpha Complex.
• In R.Talsorian's follow up to Cyberpunk 2020, Cybergeneration, one of the player archetype Yo-Gangs was called the "Arcorunner". The character was a child who has grown up in the arcologies, knowing every aspect about them.
• In WildFire's CthulhuTech RPG, humanity has been forced to live in fortified arcologies due to attacks from the Old Ones and the Migou.
• In Mindstorm's Alpha Omega RPG, the world's populations have retreated into arcology city-states to protect themselves from the war-torn decimation of the Earth's surface
• Arcologies appear in the Buck Rogers XXVC RPG, particularly on ravaged Earth where they have replaced many former metropolitan centers.

See also[link]

• Arcosanti
• Autonomous building
• Bionic architecture
• Vertical farming
• Dubai City Tower
• Megastructure
• Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid
• Underground city
• Urban ecology

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Soleri, Paolo Arcology: The City in the Image of Man 1969:Cambridge, Massachusetts MIT Press

External links[link]

• Arcosanti.org – Official Webpage for a prototype arcological development in Arizona
• Arcology.com – Useful links
• The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson (Full text online)
• Victory City
• A discussion of arcology concepts

Usage of "arcology" vs. "hyperstructure":

• Arcology.com ("An arcology in southern China" on front page)
• Arcology ("An arcology is a self-contained environment...")
• SculptorsWiki: Arcology ("The only arcology yet on Earth...")
• Review of Shadowrun: Renraku Arcology ("What's an arcology? A self-contained, largely self-sufficient living, working, recreational structure...")
• [1] (Arcology discussion group)
• Floating Arcology A design to prevent against rising sea levels.

This article may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (May 2010)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

Paolo Soleri (born June 21, 1919^[1] ) is an Italian architect. He established Arcosanti and the educational Cosanti Foundation. Soleri is a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a National Design Award recipient in 2006.

Early life[link]

Soleri was born in Turin, Italy. He was awarded his "laurea" (PhD degree with highest honors) in architecture from the Politecnico di Torino in 1946. He visited the United States in December 1946 and spent a year and a half in fellowship with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Arizona, and at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. During this time, he gained international recognition for a bridge design displayed at the Museum of Modern Art.

Soleri returned to Italy in 1950 where he was commissioned to build a large ceramics factory, "Ceramica Artistica Solimene" in Vietri on the Amalfi coast.^[2] The ceramics industry processes he became familiar with during its construction led to his award-winning designs and production of ceramic and bronze windbells and siltcast architectural structures. For over 40 years, proceeds from sales of the windbells have provided funds for construction to test his theoretical work. Ceramic and bronze bells are still produced and sold at Arcosanti and Cosanti in Arizona.

In 1956 he settled in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his late wife, Colly, and their two daughters. Dr. and Mrs. Soleri made a life-long commitment to research and experimentation in urban planning, establishing the Cosanti Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation. Soleri's philosophy and works have been strongly influenced by the Jesuit paleontologist and philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Arcosanti[link]

The Cosanti Foundation's major project is Arcosanti, a community planned for 5,000 people, designed by Soleri; Arcosanti has been in construction since 1970. Located near Cordes Junction, about 70 miles (110 km) north of Phoenix and visible from Interstate I-17 in central Arizona, the project intends to provide a model demonstrating Soleri's concept of "Arcology", architecture coherent with ecology. Arcology is envisioned by Soleri as a hyperdense city, designed to maximize human interaction; it should maximize access to shared, cost-effective infrastructural services, conserve water and reduce sewage; minimize the use of energy, raw materials and land; reduce waste and environmental pollution; and allow interaction with the surrounding natural environment. Arcosanti is a prototype of a desert arcology. Soleri's other arcology designs envisioned sites such as the ocean (Nova Noah), et al. (see: Arcology: City in the Image of Man).

Since 1970, well over 6000 people have participated in Arcosanti's construction. Their international affiliation group is called the Arcosanti Alumni Network. As of 2010, construction is underway to complete Arcosanti's Greenhouse Apron.

Other achievements[link]

The International Architecture Symposium "Mensch und Raum" (Man and Space) at the Vienna University of Technology (Technische Universität Wien) in 1984 received international attention. Paolo Soleri participated, among others: Justus Dahinden, Dennis Sharp, Bruno Zevi, Jorge Glusberg, Otto Kapfinger, Frei Otto, Pierre Vago, Ernst Gisel, Ionel Schein.

Soleri is a distinguished lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a member of the Lindisfarne Association.

In 1966, Paolo Soleri began working on the design for the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was built on the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School using large silt cast forms. The amphitheater is owned by the nineteen Native American Pueblos of New Mexico and is therefore not protected by local or state preservation laws.^[3]

A landmark exhibition, "The Architectural Visions of Paolo Soleri," organized in 1970 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, traveled extensively in the U.S. and Canada, breaking records for attendance. "Two Suns Arcology, A Concept for Future Cities" opened in 1976 at the Xerox Square Center in Rochester, New York. In 1989 "Paolo Soleri Habitats: Ecologic Minutiae," and exhibition of arcologies, space habitats and bridges, was presented at the New York Academy of Sciences. More recently, "Soleri's Cities, Architecture for the Planet Earth and Beyond" was featured at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, AZ. A Soleri bell appears in the film What the Bleep Do We Know? His work has been exhibited worldwide.

The Paolo Soleri Archives, the collection of all of Soleri's art and letters, is located at Arcosanti. The Soleri Archives is managed by Sue Kiersch under the direction of Cosanti Board Trustee Director of Special Projects Tomiaki Tamura, who resides at Arcosanti.

Soleri was interviewed in the 2007 environmental documentary "The 11th Hour (film)".

December 10, 2010 - Completion of Soleri Bridge and Plaza commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art. The 130-foot (40 m) pedestrian bridge, based on Paolo Soleri's design, is located on the South Bank of the Arizona Canal and connects newly developed retail area Scottsdale Waterfront with Old Town Scottsdale. The bridge is incorporated into a 22,000 sq ft (2,000 m²) plaza including silt cast artwork and a large bell assembly, The Goldwater Bell, also designed by Paolo Soleri.

Awards[link]

Soleri has received fellowships from the Graham Foundation and from the Guggenheim Foundation (1964, Architecture, Planning, & Design^[4]).
He has been awarded three honorary doctorates and several awards from design groups worldwide:

• 1963 - American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Craftmanship
• 1981 - Gold Medal at the World Bienniale of Architecture held by the International Academy of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria
• 1984 - Silver Medal of the Academie d' Architecture in Paris
• 1996 - Honorary Fellow, Royal Institute of British Architects
• 2000 - Leone d'oro at the Mostra di Architettura di Venezia (Venice Architecture Biennale) for his lifelong achievement
• 2006 - Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for lifetime achievement

Writings[link]

He has written six books and numerous essays and monographs. When he is not traveling on the international lecture circuit, Soleri divides his time between Cosanti, the original site for his research located in Scottsdale, and Arcosanti.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arcosanti

• Arcology
• Arcosanti
• Yavapai County, Arizona
• Mayer, Arizona
• Cosanti
• List of architects
• List of urban planners
• Paolo Soleri Amphitheater
• Lisa A. Scafuro. Phoenix Home & Garden. March, 2008, Page 270. “Paolo Soleri: The Lifetime Achievements of a Living Legacy”

References[link]