My Google alerts notified me of this very good article about an exhibit of Paolo Soleri’s work.
But when I read the tagline, I had to smile: “Visionary architect unveils ecological architecture designs.”
If you Google “visionary+Soleri” you’ll get more than 16,000 results; it is the adjective most often applied to him and his work. Some words stick to people like cockleburs to a wool sweater. “Visionary” is one that has stuck to Soleri. How does he like being called a visionary?
(This is a clip I put together a long time ago. It’s rough and may not make it into the finished film for various reasons.)
I filmed a talk Soleri gave at the New School in 2005. He was introduced by Paul Goldberger, the architecture critic for the The New Yorker. Here’s a portion of that introduction.
In an interview a couple of years ago, he said that, and I quote, “ … the mind that thinks I am a dreamer is not connected with reality. I think I am realistic, but I may not be a practical individual. The practical is very often almost the opposite of the real.”* The practical is often almost the opposite of the real. For an age that … elevates the practical, these words are a sobering and urgent call. They are a call to break away from the mundane concerns that prevent us from seeing things we need to see. That prevent us from aspiring to our noblest potential. A rabbinical scholar once said that, just as a hand placed too close to your face can block the view of the most beautiful mountain, so can the routine of daily life prevent us from seeing the profound depth and majesty and potential of the world. Paolo Soleri’s view has never been blocked. He has seen clearly for generations now.
There’s really nothing I can add to that.
* Works & Conversations, Architecture as Salvation: Conversation with Paolo Soleri, interview conducted by Richard Whittaker; May 21, 2000.