Conversations with Paolo Soleri

Paolo Soleri's architectural-philosophical thinking sets forth fundamental reformulations to address the globalising worlds most urgent environmental, urban infrastructural, and socio-ethical problems. In this book, Soleri's most recent philosophical architectural ideas are distilled into a concentrated overview that is more accessible to the general reader than his previous books. Soleri's proposes to transform our societal systems while raising the sights of the reader to a radically long-term and humanistic perspective. Among the interrelated concepts outlined here are Solei's highly original ideas of "orchid and forest," "the city as hyper-organism," "the urban effect," and "the love project," to name a few. These inspiring ideas are acutely timely in light of current environmental trends: responding to global climate change, radically reducing oil dependence, embracing frugality and reduced consumption, while simultaneously confronting issues of suburban sprawl, urban renewal, smart land use, and wise food production. Compiled from Soleri's most recent personal notebooks (2004-2009), this work includes an original interview covering the breadth of his architectural and educational career and essays by Marco Felici and Youngsoo Kim.