COSANTI

I didn't know what to expect when I drove to Cosanti, which was described in my AAA travel guide as an architectural museum/foundation located just a few miles away from our apartment in Scottsdale.  Turns out that this place was created by an architect by the name of Soleri, who is now retired but who apparently still lives on the site.  I think the place was originated as an architectural exhibit, but over time it is clear that the financial success of the enterprise is centered on the brass pieces that are created on site.

The architecture can best be described as unusual bordering on the bizarre, and for the most part, I didn't think it worked very well.  The structures included a lot of curved lines that were unfinished or at least unpolished.  Here are some examples of the architecture.

Some of the details were more interesting as abstracts.

And some were interesting because of the brass hangings associated with them.

Maybe.

But as I indicated, the art, such as it was, was in the brass bells, wind chimes, and hangings that were for sale. The key was in the green and red patina that was created by applying an acid solution to the finished work.  Here are a few of the items.

One of the pieces had an especially varicolored patina, and I decided to shoot it as a more or less pure abstract.  I like the shot quite a lot, even though it would probably be impossible to figure out what was going on without an explanation.  My only complaint with this shot is that it is not quite as crisp as I would like.

The big draw for the place was that they were going to be doing a pour of molten brass later in the morning, so I decided to stick around to get some shots.  Here they are.

The founder, Soleri, has also crated a facility about 70 miles north of Phoenix apparently more devoted to his architecture.  Based on what I saw, I think I could skip it.