Concrete and bronze windbells in the utopia known as Arcosanti.

It’s been six years since I launched Barbara A. Campagna/Architecture + Planning, PLLC and while many things have changed, my goal to work on “greening what’s already here” continues to be met, often in places I never expected.  Many people are finding new ways to integrate historic preservation and green building practices, which makes my new venture a delightful and intellectually inspiring one.  This is blog three of my anniversary week.

Since I started architecture school in 1980 I have been wanting to visit Arcosanti and Cosanti in Arizona.  This year’s DOCOMOMO US Annual Symposium finally gave me the opportunity to see Paolo Soleri’s lifetime work in person.   Having taught his early green thinking to my classes, I always felt a little inauthentic having never been there.  Once again we had a special day to ourselves, a meal cooked just for us by the residents, and time to roam around pondering the community’s comparison to ancient Rome.  Concrete, windbells, expansive desert and mountain views.  I did my best to contribute to their community and brought home quite a selection of their unique windbells.

For  more photos of Paolo Soleri’s utopia, please view my photos on Facebook.     You don’t need to be on Facebook to view it. And I apologize for the wonky formatting of the blogs, I’m in the middle of renovating my website.

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