Architecture Requires Visionaries Willing To Take Chances Outside Of The Mainstream

During college years in Orange, California, interested in design as I was, there was an intriguing book in the waiting room of one of my early jobs at a graphic designer's studio. As with one generation after another, "change" was a buzzword that generated auspicious beginnings, a word that appealed to me after seeing "Five Easy Pieces" with Jack Nicholson. Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller invigorated creative thought for my generation, probably because there were movies about them shown in many scholastic environments where new ideas flourished.

The first "Earth Day" occurred while I was in College and was an interesting outlook. I had learned about recycling in Scotland when I had been involved in a project to save aluminum milk caps for our school and we'd been featured in a local newspaper to set the habit. When I thought about it, if metals are mined, might as well reuse it rather than toss it and get more. Similarly keep your car until the wheels fall off to conserve. There were definitely hints of the "us vs them" in what transitioning youth to adults see as liberation from the restraints of high school years. We all go through those changes with emphasis on "through".  There was no indication that politics would be hideously intertwined to demonize others through "us vs them" polarizing ideologies, pitting us against each other.  "We don't need no stinking politicians!"  When we're working towards our goals, politics is superfluous.

 Who doesn't like nature? Exclusive, wealthy neighborhoods everywhere in the world are immersed in nature. Just how did this ridiculous viewpoint solidify where politicians effectively pit us against each other??? Arcosanti is an experimental city under construction, initially providing an apprenticeship for architects near Scottsdale, Arizona. The creator, Paolo Soleri, a successful architect, envisioned a city with no streets concentrated with artistically fashioned amorphous shapes leaving the surrounding area natural for everyone's enjoyment. He sold his signature Bronze bells cast in sand with distinctive designs to finance his ambitious dreams and hoped to entice apprentices. That type of education is a pervasive orientation in respect of nature, which is common. Apparently the city is still progressing at some pace driven by different minds now that Paolo is long gone. How far we have come that 3 D printing now has the capability of constructing shelters!