Architect makes earthly delights

A bell at Cosanti, architect Paolo Soleri's commune. (HILARY NANGLE FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- I didn't understand the concept of urban sprawl until I visited Scottsdale, and I didn't know the antidote for it until I visited Cosanti. I came here seeking Frank Lloyd Wright. I left enamored of Paolo Soleri.

I happened to mention my plans to tour Taliesin West, Wright's desert home and camp, to my hotel's desk clerk. She recommended also visiting Cosanti.

"Co-what?" I asked.

"Cosanti," she replied. "They make fabulous bells there. The first time I visited, I didn't want to leave."

As it turned out, neither did I. But first I had to find the place.

Scottsdale stretches mile after manicured mile, each block punctuated by traffic lights and lined with shopping plazas edged by lush lawns and flowering shrubs. Cosanti is a low-key, earth-toned, counterculture oasis amid an unnaturally green sea of multimillion-dollar homes. Cosanti seemed as out of place as my sub compact rental car did among the massive SUVs cruising the roads.

Finding Cosanti was worth the effort. Bronze and ceramic bells, from hand-sized to gigantic sculptural entities, hang everywhere. They dangle from tree limbs, adorn interior and exterior walls, and descend from ceilings.

"Every bell is an original," said Cosanti's Mary Hoadley. Tone depends on the bell's shape, pitch varies with size, and together they ring in rich multitones whenever a breeze so much as whispers.

A quick stop to view the bells turned into a two-hour visit as I explored architect Paolo Soleri's innovative commune. Not only was I seduced by the bells, but also by Cosanti's philosophy. Wright's renown as an architect extends far beyond architecture buffs; Soleri's doesn't. That's a shame, because Soleri's work, like Wright's, makes one stop and think about the role of architecture in society.

While nature inspired both Wright and Soleri, the two implemented their visions in dramatically different ways. Wright's designs sprawl; Soleri's soar. Wright preferred natural materials; Soleri used man-made ones. Wright encouraged isolation; Soleri promoted community. Whereas Wright is the architect of suburban sprawl, Soleri is the mastermind behind a compact, car-less city. The two styles are yin and yang, complementary, yet exclusionary.

Wright's guiding philosophy was organic architecture. Soleri's is arcology , which by its definition "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." Simply put, it is architecture in tune with ecology.

Perhaps Soleri was simply ahead of the times. Born in 1919 and awarded a doctorate in architecture by Torino Polytechnico in 1946, he first came to the United States in 1947 to apprentice with Wright at Taliesin West. Their paths soon diverged, although they remained respectful of each other. In 1950, Soleri returned to Italy and accepted a commission to build a five-story ceramics factory, the visually arresting Ceramica Artistica Solimene on the Amalfi Coast.

Soleri returned to Scottsdale in 1956 and established the non profit Cosanti Foundation, a research and educational commune dedicated to urban planning. He used the technical knowledge he learned building the ceramics factory to craft and sell bronze and ceramic bells to support his family.

"He never dreamed the bells would become the bread and butter to support his urban-planning issues," Hoadley said.

Bells provided not only money, but also inspiration. Making them required digging holes in the ground and filling them with clay slip. Soleri realized that he could reverse the process and cast cement in the ground and shape the earth into a shelter.

Soleri designed earth-cast apses to provide shelter, maximize or minimize the sun's warmth, and blend with nature. Depending upon their orientation and the seasons, these earthen semi-halos radiate heat or provide shade. Walking paths gently curve around and through the solar-designed structures, which include a gallery, north- and south-facing apses, office apses, and a residence. Most impressive is the 20-ton pre cast concrete one-quarter-sphere canopy apse that was lifted and pinned on telephone poles.

Also impressive is the model of Arcosanti, Soleri's prototype city, which is displayed in the student apse. Next time I will visit this project, which has been under construction in the desert 70 miles north of here since 1970.

Instead, I contented myself with learning how they make the bells. In the ceramics studio, artisans mix slip, then mold it in bell shapes. An original design is carved into each bell while it is still damp. Before firing, it's prepped with oxides for coloration.

A roar, similar to a jet taking off, drew me to the foundry apse, where other artisans were pouring molten bronze into cement boxes containing sand molds. Like the ceramic bells, each has been handcrafted and bears an original design. When the metal cools, the bell is dipped into an acid bath to produce the patina. Soleri's students create most of the bells, but the 87-year-old master still makes a few signature ones.

Determined to bring home the perfect souvenir, I went from bell to bell, ringing each and admiring its patterns, coloration, design, and tone before selecting a small bronze one. On windy days, it rings a reminder of Cosanti and the anti-sprawl vision of Soleri.