Search for a Lean Alternative - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 523

FIGURE 30.2
Since 1970, construction of Arcosanti has occurred through the support of windbell sales, donations, and vol-
untary efforts.
Developing a small town to work as an urban laboratory was, and still is, daunting. No
public or private resources were provided with the exception of tax exemption, and this
remains so after almost 40 years of development. We ourselves subsidized the main task of
constructing Arcosanti by gradually developing Cosanti Originals' production in ceramics,
bronze, and aluminum. The production and marketing of our windbells has become a small
national and international enterprise. The project's income has been steady and reliable for
over four decades; modest, but enough to enable very gradual construction and development.
The purpose of Arcosanti, qua laboratory, is to explore an urban alternative, actively
demonstrating ways to improve conditions of urban life while at the same time lessening
our destructive impact on the earth. Suburban and exurban sprawl, by the nature of their
demand on people, resources, and the biosphere, are counterproductive. The “better” they
become, the worse the physical and cultural consequences are. The result might turn out
to be not a global village, but a global hermitage, in which each habitat unit (the home) is
virtually plugged into the whole world, but only in the abstract domain of brain-computer-
brain relationships. This is an immensely dangerous, segregating, environmentally and
humanly costly situation.
Arcosanti is an urban laboratory guided by what I call “lean minds” seeking to develop
a lean habitat, keeping in mind that agriculture (food) and habitat (shelter) are the two
indispensable ingredients of human life. Its principal intent remains a quest for the
alternative of a lean and more equitable society. One consequence of a successful lean
alternative would be a first step toward the reconciliation of the haves and the have-nots.
Half the world's population is frugal by necessity. We think it desirable that the whole
world become frugal by virtue.
The Arcosanti project, in its own way, wants to be an incarnation of the aforementioned
preoccupations and not an absurd, empty, utopian world for a “chosen few.” The project
represents a viable and positive solution to population growth, environmentally appro-
priate living, frugality, miniaturization, efficiency, urban evolution, pollution, conserva-
tion, transportation, net energy utilization, social interchange, privacy, food production,
preservation of natural habitats, aesthetics, affordable housing, global warming, ultimate
recycling, education, and world awareness.
Arcosanti builds on little conquests in the routine of life that might come its way, well
aware of our dependence on other people and things. An aversion to social, cultural, and
economic inequities is paramount to the project. Men and women share responsibility at
all levels. Very modest wages are common to all. Participation from many countries and