Arcosanti

What Arcosanti does

Arcosanti is a nonprofit urban laboratory located in Mayer, Arizona, founded in 1970 by architect Paolo Soleri as the world's first prototype arcology. It operates as a project of The Cosanti Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose stated mission is to inspire a reimagined urbanism that builds resilient and equitable communities sustainably integrated with the natural world. The site occupies less than 25 acres within an 860-acre landholding near the intersection of I-17 and Route 69, about 70 miles north of Phoenix, and has been continuously inhabited since 1970.

Arcosanti's core product is the physical built environment and the experiential offerings layered on top of it: resident-led guided tours ($13-$45 per ticket across general, student, youth, K-12, architectural, and archives formats), 5-6 week apprenticeship-style workshops (covering construction, archives, ceramics, and farm-to-table topics), overnight guest accommodations including Sun and Sky Suites, on-site café service, private event venue rental for groups of 10 to 350, and performing arts programming including the FORM Arcosanti festival. The site also operates a bronze foundry and ceramics apse that produces handcrafted Cosanti Originals windbells sold on-site and globally through cosanti.com. The underlying technology is architectural: arcology principles expressed through silt-cast and earth-cast concrete construction, passive heating and cooling via microclimates without air conditioning, and integrated water management using aquifer recharge, rainwater harvesting, greywater systems, and low-flow fixtures.

The revenue model is diversified across ticket fees, hardware sales (windbells), professional services (workshops), accommodations and event rentals, and donations and grants from foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and USDA. Customer segments span general public tourists, K-12 and university students, workshop participants, event hosts, and performing arts audiences; approximately 50,000 visitors come on-site annually and more than 8,000 alumni have completed workshops since 1963. Distribution is primarily regional/in-person, supplemented by global e-commerce for windbells and earned-media coverage in major publications.

Name

Arcosanti

Legal name

The Cosanti Foundation

Website

https://arcosanti.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Arcosanti is a nonprofit urban laboratory in Mayer, Arizona, operating as the world's first prototype arcology since 1970. It serves roughly 50,000 annual visitors through tours, workshops, accommodations, events, and handcrafted Cosanti Originals windbells, while pioneering sustainable architecture.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experiential Tourism and Educational Destination

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Historical Sites (712120)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Desert & Dune Nature Experiences (THAJAIAG), Desert, Dome & Geodesic Stays (THAMADAK), Faculty-Led & Research/Field Study Expeditions (THAKAGAK), History, Heritage & Museum-Focused Study Tours (THAKAGAN)

Keywords

• Experiential tourism destination
• Educational workshops
• Handcrafted windbells
• Arcology architecture
• Private event venue

Headquarters

HQ city

Mayer

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Tour Fees: Revenue from thousands of visitors who pay for guided tours of Arcosanti's iconic architecture and grounds, including daily tours and specialty architectural/archives tours.
2. Cosanti Windbells Sales: Sales of world-renowned bronze and ceramic windbells handmade at Arcosanti by resident artisans. Each bell is a unique work of art with hand-carved designs.
3. Workshop Registrations: Revenue from 5-6 week apprenticeship-style workshops teaching construction, archives, farm-to-table, and other hands-on skills.
4. Performing Arts Programming: Revenue from events, concerts, festivals, and private event hosting including the Colly Soleri Amphitheater and other performance spaces.
5. Overnight Accommodations: Revenue from guest rooms and overnight stays, including Sun and Sky Suites and Airbnb accommodations.
6. Donations and Grants: Support from individual donors, grant-making institutions, and media partnerships through The Cosanti Foundation nonprofit.
7. Café Sales: Revenue from the Arcosanti Café serving breakfast and lunch with made-to-order menu items including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Arcosanti is a nonprofit urban laboratory and destination site offering resident-led guided tours of its iconic earth-cast arcology architecture, 5-6 week hands-on workshops in construction and crafts, overnight guest accommodations, on-site café service, private event venue rental, and handcrafted Cosanti Originals bronze and ceramic windbells produced on-site and sold in the gallery and online.

Product overview

Arcosanti is a physical destination—specifically an urban laboratory and prototype arcology (architecture + ecology)—rather than a software product. Its offerings center on guided tours of Paolo Soleri's iconic earth-cast concrete architecture, hands-on 5-6 week workshops, overnight accommodations, event venue rental, and the sale of handcrafted Cosanti Originals bronze and ceramic windbells. The site also features a cafe, gallery/gift shop, and hosts performing arts events and festivals including the annual FORM Arcosanti. Sub-brands operating within the Arcosanti ecosystem include Deep Play (immersive experiences), Arcology Apparel (merchandise), and Arco Agritecture (sustainable agriculture microbusiness).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Deep Play: Immersive experience business doing 360 degree immersive experiences, managed by Rob Jameson.
• Lexicon Light Production Services LLC
• Arco Agritecture
• Arcology Apparel
• Hamaila LLC

Products and services

• Guided Tours Resident-led guided tours of Arcosanti's iconic architecture and grounds, including Daily Tours ($25 general/$17 student/$13 youth), Architectural Tours ($40), Archives Tours ($45), and K-12 School Tours ($12). Available Thursday-Sunday at 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 2:00 p.m.
• Cosanti Originals Windbells World-famous handcrafted bronze and ceramic windbells made using silt-cast and earth-cast techniques developed at Arcosanti, sold through the on-site gallery, gift shop, and online at cosanti.com. Each bell is a unique work of art with hand-carved designs.
• Workshops and Programs 5-6 week apprenticeship-style hands-on workshops covering construction, archives, ceramics, farm-to-table, and other skills, plus specialty workshops and educational programs for K-12 and university students.
• Overnight Accommodations Guest rooms and overnight stays at Arcosanti, including Sun and Sky Suites and Airbnb accommodations, available to visitors for extended on-site experiences with access to an Olympic-sized swimming pool for overnight guests.
• Arcosanti Cafe On-site cafe serving breakfast and lunch with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options, using artisan spring water and emphasizing environmentally conscious practices. Accessible to day visitors without tour tickets.
• Private Events and Venue Rental Event hosting services for meetings, workshops, retreats, receptions, and weddings for groups from 10 to 350 people, utilizing various indoor and outdoor venues including the East Crescent Amphitheater.
• Gallery and Gift Shop On-site retail space showcasing and selling Cosanti Originals windbells, ceramic tiles, publications, and artisan crafts, open seven days a week inside the Visitor Center.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Arizona State University (ASU) Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ASU's CBBG for research and collaboration on bio-mediated and bio-inspired geotechnical solutions. The Cosanti Foundation announced the beginning of this partnership at CBBG's annual meeting, exploring incredible potentials for sustainable construction techniques.
• University of StrathclydeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Scotland's University of Strathclyde Sustainable Engineering program. Students visit Arcosanti to learn about sustainable design on-site while carrying out their own research-led design projects.
• Paradise Valley School DistrictminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative educational program between the Cosanti Foundation and Paradise Valley School District, implementing a six-week K-12 arcology curriculum with field trips to Cosanti.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright School): Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and architectural school in Scottsdale, Arizona — a comparable architect-founded experimental community offering guided tours, workshops, and educational programming in the Arizona desert. Both sites blend iconic 20th-century architecture with immersive visitor experiences and are the two most significant architect-led experimental communities in the American Southwest.
• Cosanti (Original Soleri Site): Paolo Soleri's original prototype site and sister property to Arcosanti, also operated by The Cosanti Foundation. Shares identical earth-cast and silt-cast construction techniques, hosts the original Cosanti Originals windbell foundry, and offers tours on the Arizona state historic registry. Functionally a sister destination in the same Soleri ecosystem.
• Fallingwater (Frank Lloyd Wright): Iconic Frank Lloyd Wright residential architectural landmark offering guided public tours of a world-famous single-site architectural destination. Comparable as a category-of-one architect-designed heritage attraction where the building itself is the primary product and tour fees are the core revenue stream.
• Auroville: Experimental international township in Tamil Nadu, India founded in 1968 on principles of human unity and sustainable architecture. Comparable as a long-running experimental urban community offering guided tours, workshops, and educational residencies centered on sustainable architecture — Arcosanti's closest philosophical peer globally.
• The Eden Project: Cornwall-based eco-destination featuring biome domes that host educational programs, events, and visitor experiences centered on sustainability and ecology. Comparable as a destination eco-attraction monetizing environmental education through ticketed tours, workshops, and events.
• Biosphere 2: University of Arizona's experimental closed-environment research facility in Oracle, Arizona offering guided public tours, educational programming, and university research partnerships. Comparable as an Arizona-based experimental environmental site attracting tourism and academic engagement, sharing the same state and similar institutional partnerships.
• Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (Oak Park): Preserved residence and working studio of Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park, Illinois offering guided tours, archives access, and educational programming. Comparable as an architect's preserved working site with tiered tour offerings (general, specialty, archives) very similar to Arcosanti's tour portfolio.

Emerging players

• Meow Wolf: Immersive art experience company operating large-scale interactive installations combining art, music, and technology in destination venues. Comparable through Arcosanti's Deep Play subsidiary offering 360-degree immersive experiences and overlapping experiential-tourism positioning targeting similar visitor demographics.

Broad incumbents

• Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: World-renowned destination architecture museum in Bilbao, Spain operating as a major cultural-tourism anchor built around iconic Frank Gehry architecture. Comparable as a destination cultural site where architecture itself drives tourism and ticketed visitor experiences are the primary revenue.
• Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: Walton-family-funded destination art museum in Bentonville, Arkansas combining iconic architecture, ticketed and free visitor experiences, extensive educational programming, and hiking trails. Comparable as a destination cultural institution monetizing architecture and curated experiences through multi-revenue-stream model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/133563283326477
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cosanti-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/arcosanti_arizona
• Xx.com/Arcosanti

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Arcosanti