Cosanti / Inside

Paolo in his office.

Source: Life Magazine, 1966

The Cosanti office today

Now that's a doorknob.

My friend Daniel at Cosanti gave me a little behind the scenes tour. 

The office is filled with some great examples of sculpture by Soleri.

I want one of these!

Styrofoam sculpture forms under an array of cause bells.  

This bronze tray is part of the architecture.

Paolo's mailbox

Pumpkin Apse and Barrel Vault (1968-1971)

Interior of the barrel vault, 1990s

The barrel vault, today

Soleri didn't want to cut the tree down so he just built the building around it. 

Daniel explained that the color of the apse was created by painting the earth mound that was piled up to create the form.

The ribs on the barrel vault are made of cloth dipped in plaster under a cast concrete outer shell (see photo below).  

The rib forms were made in sections under scaffolding. 

Soleri model showing an urban environment concept for high-density living.

"A complex miniaturized urban solid of super-dense humano-texture." 

Visionary Cities - The Arcology of Paolo Soleri by Donald Wall 

This model wasn't originally black. It survived a fire in the Cosanti gallery.  

This is the cover of a box that held a fundraising package.

They were sandblasted by Soleri himself.

Early Soleri bridge model

This is a bridge concept for a project that was built in Scottsdale. 

The bridge that was actually built looks very different. More on that later.