The architect, who was one of the last living students of F. L. Wright, died on April 9, 2013 at the age of 93. Soleri continued to work almost until the end of his life, working on the city of Arcosanti he created in the Arizona desert. The city, which was simultaneously an educational center, tourist attraction, and laboratory of experimental architecture, has been under construction since 1970, but never reached the planned size of 5,000 inhabitants. During the peak period, their number reached several hundred, and at the beginning of the 21st century it is only a few dozen people.
Arkosanti is built up with thick-walled concrete structures operating in a "passive" scheme, where the bulk of the building plays the main role. Soleri believed that buildings should consume a minimum of energy and other resources and take up as little space as possible. It is also necessary to eliminate the generation of waste and maintain a direct link with the environment. Arkosanti conforms to all these principles; in addition, there are no cars and the buildings are connected only by footpaths. The city was built by volunteers and is supported by donations from sympathizers, as well as funds from the sale of decorative bronze bells based on Soleri's sketches.
Among Soleri's projects are more daring: plans for multi-tiered settlements for millions of residents, reminiscent of the work of the Archigram group and other radicals of the 1960s. They were supposed to be an alternative to sprawling suburbs. The architect's rejection of "suburbia" became the reason for another break between Soleri and Wright, to whom the "endless" city seemed quite attractive.
Despite the small number of completed projects (among the latter - the pedestrian bridge-sundial in the Arizona city of Scottsdale, 2011) Soleri has received many prestigious awards, including the gold medals of the American Institute of Architects and the International Union of Architects, the Venice Biennale and the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design …
