I lived at Arcosanti for about five years, working quite closely with Paolo Soleri. I consider him to be a good friend, and can answer any questions that you might have on the subject (although his philosophy differs markedly from my own in some ways, I feel I can fairly represent both). Arcology design is a subject near and dear to my heart. It's why I got my undergraduate degree in Architecture, and am now embarking upon a master's in Urban Design -- arcology design falls somewhere in the borderlands between those two professions, and that's what I want to do with my life.

Anyhow, it's rather amusing to see that subject come up in this forum! There *is* actually a direct connection between space exploration and arcology-building: arcologies are what we'll *have* to build when we settle off-world; those who talk about extra-terrestrial suburbs are, frankly, out of their gourds. I think that people living in off-world arcologies will truly enjoy their lives, and perhaps then the technology will filter back to earth, much as the neccessary social and technological innovations of the wild west filtered back to the more conservative cities in the east.

The That website, by the way, was originally my creation (back in '95), and I'm currently working on a contract for Arcosanti to make some fairly substantial upgrades to it.

Cheers,

Nathan.