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He returned to Italy in 1950 where he was commissioned to build a large ceramics factory, "Ceramica Artistica Solimene." The processes he became familiar with in the ceramics industry led to his award-winning designs of ceramic and bronze windbells and siltcast architectural structures. For over 30 years, the proceeds from the windbells have provided funds for construction to test his theoretical work.
In 1956 he settled in Scottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale Pima Waai S-waoni is a city located in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 202,705, while a July 1, 2002 Census estimate put the city's population at 215,779. It is one of the most expensive, with his late wife, Colly, and their two daughters. Dr. and Mrs. Soleri made a life-long commitment to research and experimentation in urban planningUrban, city or town planning deals with design of the built environment from the municipal and metropolitan perspective. Other professions deal in more detail with a smaller scale of development, namely architecture and urban design. Regional planning dea, establishing the Cosanti Foundation , a not-for-profit educational foundation.
The Foundation's major project is ArcosantiArcosanti or City Of The Bells (or the City of the Future) is an experimental town that is being built in central Arizona, 70 miles (110 km) outside of Phoenix. Paolo Soleri, using a concept he calls Arcology architecture + ecology, designed the town to d, a prototype town for 5,000 people designed by Soleri, under construction since 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January. Located at Cordes Junction , in central Arizona, the project is based on Soleri's concept of " ArcologyAn arcology so far only existing conceptually (with experiments taking place at Arcosanti), is an extremely large building, sufficient to maintain an internal ecology as well as an extremely high human population density. Popular in science fiction, arcol," architecture coherent with ecologyEcology is the branch of science that studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both its physical habitat, which can be described as th. ArcologyAn arcology so far only existing conceptually (with experiments taking place at Arcosanti), is an extremely large building, sufficient to maintain an internal ecology as well as an extremely high human population density. Popular in science fiction, arcol advocates cities designed to maximize the interaction and accessibility associated with an urban environment; minimize the use of energy, raw materials and land, reducing waste and environmental pollution; and allow interaction with the surrounding natural environment.
A landmark exhibition, "The Architectural Visions of Paolo Soleri," organized in 1970 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, traveled extensively in the U.S. and Canada, breaking records for attendance. "Two Suns Arcology, A Concept for Future Cities" opened at the Xerox Square Center in Rochester, New York, in 1976. In 1989 " Paolo Soleri Habitats: Ecologic Minutiae," and exhibition of arcologies, space habitats and bridges, was presented at the New York Academy of Sciences. Most recently, "Soleri's Cities, Architecture for the Planet Earth and Beyond" was featured at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, AZ. His work has been exhibited worldwide.
Soleri has received one fellowship from the Graham Foundation and two from the Guggenheim Foundation . He has been awarded three honorary doctorates, the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Craftmanship in 1963, the Gold Medal from the World Biennieal of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1981, and the Silver Medal of the Academied' Architecture in Paris, 1984. Soleri is a distinguished lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University.
He has written six books and numerous essays and monographs. When he is not traveling on the international lecture circuit, Soleri divides his time between Cosanti, the original site for his research located in Scottsdale, and Arcosanti.