Unanimous Vote to Fund Scottsdale Soleri Bridge
After years of discussion and more than a hundred emails to the Scottsdale City Council in support, funding for the Paolo Soleri Bridge and Plaza was unanimously approved.
Scottsdale, AZ, May 01, 2008 --(PR.com)-- After years of discussion and more than a hundred emails to the Scottsdale City Council in support, funding for the Paolo Soleri Bridge and Plaza was unanimously approved. Originally presented to the Scottsdale City Council in the early 1990s, the Bridge is designed as a public, pedestrian space that also marks solar events. The suspension bridge features two 64-foot pylons with an opening that allows a beam of sunlight to shine through, aligning with the axis of the bridge at solar noon.
The Bridge project will cost $3.2 million, $1.7 million of which Scottsdale City Council has “tentatively approved funding for the proposed Soleri Bridge and Plaza, pending final budget adoption on June 3.” The Council says that the Soleri Bridge and Plaza will be a tremendous achievement for Scottsdale. Paolo Soleri is one of the Valley's most celebrated and revered cultural icons and his bridge will feature the largest bell assembly ever produced by the famed artist. The bridge will cross the Arizona Canal west of Scottsdale Road, with a plaza on the south bank. It will connect the Scottsdale Waterfront on the north side of the canal with SouthBridge and its various retail and dining establishments. Scottsdale also recognized Soleri in 2004 by creating “Via Soleri,” a street near the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall.
Dr. Paolo Soleri, founder of the Cosanti Foundation and designer of the Bridge and Plaza, is an internationally recognized architect, artist, and philosopher. He is best known for his theory of Arcology, which blends architecture and ecology to create a pedestrian city in response to problems caused by urban sprawl: isolation, environmental degradation, resource depletion, lack of cultural activity, and pollution. In 1970, Soleri launched Arcosanti (www.arcosanti.org), a prototype Arcology in central Arizona. It serves as an urban laboratory, a model urban environment that is striving to reduce humankind’s ecological impact. World famous Soleri bronze and ceramic bells are produced and sold on site and about 50,000 people visit Arcosanti annually.
Dr. Paolo Soleri has received one fellowship from the Graham Foundation and two from the Guggenheim Foundation, has been awarded three honorary doctorates, the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Craftsmanship in 1963, the Gold Medal from the World Biennieal of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1981, the Silver Medal of the Academie d'Architecture in Paris, 1984, was recognized as Italian Commendatore in 2003, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
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The Bridge project will cost $3.2 million, $1.7 million of which Scottsdale City Council has “tentatively approved funding for the proposed Soleri Bridge and Plaza, pending final budget adoption on June 3.” The Council says that the Soleri Bridge and Plaza will be a tremendous achievement for Scottsdale. Paolo Soleri is one of the Valley's most celebrated and revered cultural icons and his bridge will feature the largest bell assembly ever produced by the famed artist. The bridge will cross the Arizona Canal west of Scottsdale Road, with a plaza on the south bank. It will connect the Scottsdale Waterfront on the north side of the canal with SouthBridge and its various retail and dining establishments. Scottsdale also recognized Soleri in 2004 by creating “Via Soleri,” a street near the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall.
Dr. Paolo Soleri, founder of the Cosanti Foundation and designer of the Bridge and Plaza, is an internationally recognized architect, artist, and philosopher. He is best known for his theory of Arcology, which blends architecture and ecology to create a pedestrian city in response to problems caused by urban sprawl: isolation, environmental degradation, resource depletion, lack of cultural activity, and pollution. In 1970, Soleri launched Arcosanti (www.arcosanti.org), a prototype Arcology in central Arizona. It serves as an urban laboratory, a model urban environment that is striving to reduce humankind’s ecological impact. World famous Soleri bronze and ceramic bells are produced and sold on site and about 50,000 people visit Arcosanti annually.
Dr. Paolo Soleri has received one fellowship from the Graham Foundation and two from the Guggenheim Foundation, has been awarded three honorary doctorates, the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Craftsmanship in 1963, the Gold Medal from the World Biennieal of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1981, the Silver Medal of the Academie d'Architecture in Paris, 1984, was recognized as Italian Commendatore in 2003, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
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Contact
Cosanti Foundation
Erin Jeffries
928-632-6225
www.arcosanti.org
Erin Jeffries
928-632-6225
www.arcosanti.org
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