Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Within an arcology it cannot now be known if people will be predis-
posed to commute by foot or by elevator. His theorizing has not all been
conjectural, but Soleri has begun to apply these ideas to an actual building
where commuting could be solved or abolished, and energy used more effi-
ciently; in mega-structures, solar energy will power moving walkways
which, combined with elevators will make every part of the arcology acces-
sible with a vertical commute and clusters of living, working and leisure
activities in one structure, along with schooling, medical and some agricul-
ture. Even Soleri does not know if hypothetical inhabitants of an arcology
will wish to live near a school, or will some other vector influence social
cohesion? While numerous such questions must be addressed by Soleri,
Hundertwasser relies on existing civic textures (and sometimes rural set-
tings) into which his buildings are injected.
Formerly, cities were unified by a limited variety of available materials
(usually locally obtained) worked with a limited number of technologies.
27
To exceed these resources displayed conspicuous wealth.
28
In proto-history
and the chacolithic, the available technologies pretty well saturated entire
societies without regard to social rank.The pyrotechnology of ceramics was
used throughout the reaches of society from highest to lowest; textile work
would have varied mainly by delicacy of the fiber, how labor-intensively it
was worked and how much woven work was displayed (to soften hard sur-
faces and as insulation), but the sources of the fiber were pretty uniformly
distributed. (Certain expensive dyestuffs were symbolically segregated, like
royal purple in the ancient Mediterranean or Imperial yellow in China).
29
Likewise, woodcarvings and basketwork would have been found in palace
and hut; the degree of workmanship, the choice of metal, and number of
metal objects were the surest signs of social class. But aside from the work-
manship of the stone in a palace, the permeating technologies and resultant
styles afforded a visual uniformity that must have been harmoniously agree-
able—when it was not monotonous. The classical world's style permeated
architecture, fabrics, metal and wood work, painting and sculpture. Unifor-
mity of appearance, as a threat in the modern world, is accounted and par-
ried by Paolo Soleri and Friedensreich Hundertwasser as a peril to be
seriously regarded for the community's health.
The entire built environment of the classical world harmonized in a way
that was enviable to the Medieval and later occidental mind. This visual
consonance bespoke a polity in unison—regardless of whatever the fac-
tional and partisan realities at any past moment. In the classical world the
