| Urban designers have traditionally supported their urban design models with lofty theories usually broader than their own fields of expertise. Some argue that their cities are analogies to living organisms; others compare the city to a natural ecosystem; yet others understand the city as a functional machine. Architect Paolo Soleri has gone far beyond these familiar theories of urban form. Soleri's urban propositions are based on his own theological hypothesis that he calls the Omega Seed Hypothesis. The essence of this hypothesis is that the evolution of the human phenomenon in the cosmos might lead toward the creation of divinity.;In part of his theory, which he calls the Miniaturization-Complexification-Duration Paradigm, Soleri suggests that the organisms that have evolved successfully on Earth, such as humans, are characterized by a compact, three-dimensional, and highly complex physical structure. He argues that the city too is an organism, which in order to be coherent with the cosmic process of evolution must become very miniaturized, increase its degree of complexity, and be fully three-dimensional. Soleri has named this ideal urban model Arcology (from Architecture-Ecology).;To test the model, Soleri is building a small experimental town named Arcosanti in central Arizona. As a prototype Arcology, Arcosanti is intended to be an urban model consistent with our evolution toward the future divinity Omega Seed. Soleri's alleged connection between his theological ideas about cosmic evolution and the town of Arcosanti has made him difficult to understand by urban theorists, practitioners, and the general public.;The review of Soleri's written and graphic work in this thesis and the analysis of the urban design elements of Arcosanti revealed that Soleri' connection between the Omega Seed Hypothesis and his analogy of the city as a miniaturized-complex organism is indeed unclear. This thesis concludes that Soleri's urban design propositions would have more meaning to the theoretician, the practitioner, and the general public if those propositions are separated from Soleri's theological theories and are judged for themselves. |
