Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri (21 June 1919 – 9 April 2013) made his name as a countercultural icon and urban visionary, best known for his theory of "arcology"—a combination of architecture and ecology—and for Arcosanti, the prototype town in the Arizona desert which embodied his ideals and became his life's work, which he founded in 1970 and continued to work on right up until his death in 2013.

Arcosanti. Image © Tomiaki Tamura

Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri (21 June 1919 ? 9 April 2013) made his name as a countercultural icon and urban visionary, best known for his theory of "arcology"?a combination of architecture and ecology?and for Arcosanti, the prototype town in the Arizona desert which embodied his ideals and became his life's work, which he founded in 1970 and continued to work on right up until his death in 2013.
screenshot from David Licata's documentary "A Life's Work"

Panoramic view of Arcosanti. Image © Ken Howie

Born in Turin, Italy, Soleri gained his master's degree from the Politecnico di Torino in 1946, traveling to the USA shortly afterward to study under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. In 1948, Soleri gained international attention after his design for the "Beast Bridge" was included in Elizabeth Mock's book "The Architecture of Bridges," published by the Museum of Modern ...