We spent a few nights atArcosanti.
This portion of our trip was an intentional break from reality. Having spent a wonderful Christmas time with family I knew we would need some down time in a quiet place that didn't make us feel the need to do anything (because there isn't much to do here). This place is in the middle of the desert between Phoenix and Sedona. It is a place where students come to take workshops on urban architecture under Paolo Soleri, the man who founded it. Because they consider it an "urban laboratory" it has never been a huge tourist attraction but still offers overnight stays for those who can put aside their expectations and slide into a more layed back attitude. Even though the place (built in the 70s) shows its age it still has an inspiring vibe due to those who live there and care for the eco-friendly vision. Having been here when Daniel was 12 we also knew that we could probably get some unique building ideas for the bahamas.
As if viewing the sunrise through this window wasn't enough, we also managed to make some new friends. We connected with Jim and Carrie. Jim gave us a tour of the foundry where they make the famous Soleri bells. He is the foundry director and his wife runs the Cafe. Another layed back concept, a buffet style set up that for eight bucks you eat your fill. Sharing with both of them our bahama dream left us with the promise of keeping in touch, possible foundry workshops in the future at our artist retreat.
Daniel, being a repeated point of connection with people (it seems that he just looks like someone you want to talk to) we met up with this very cool cat named "Sparks" who was the onsite electrician. Not sure if the nickname was a positive or a negative we soon found out that Sparks knew his stuff in the field of solar and wind energy. So over breakfast he was gracious enough to allow us to pick his brain regarding our site. An hour later with oodles of information we promised to connect again when the site was ready Sparks would come and consult.
So what started out as a simple getaway ended up being a wealth of info for our project.
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