Arcosanti, Utopia in the desert

The Plan is everything, or is it?

Utopia in the desert.


The idea underlying this experiment is to live in the desert in dense arcologies (think Sim City) to save arable land for agriculture. With such careful planning, the argument goes, the environment will sustain us and we will sustain it, and we will live happily even in these dense surroundings because they secure, thanks to the architecture, the right balance between society and privacy. Yet it was clear even on my casual first visit that somethings had escaped the plan, the trash bins at the front looked just like those in a trailer park that we passed in Tuba City on the way there, the space heater looked as ad hoc as they do everywhere, and there were wet clothes for drying draped on balconies that I failed to snap, but that looked as unplanned as it always does.

To my eye the utopian tradition is evoked by the plan and planning, by the emphasis on shaping the physical environment so as to bring out the desired behaviours in the residents. We are made good from the outside in. If society is properly organized against a plan, the individuals will find the angels within themselves. In this case it is another step back to say that if the physical layout is right then the society will be properly organized then the individuals angels will take flight.