The largest of this game's fanciful 'arcos' was designed like a spaceship and in the PC version if you built enough of them they would all suddenly launch into space to become space colonies. ArcoSanti is Soleri's prototype arcology which began construction in 1971. It uses primarily concrete construction and has been built by a coop-community of resident artists and architectural students. It shares many similarities in goals and architectural style with the planned Aquarius. Unfortunately, in the 25 years of its construction it has barely reached the size of a small village and serves primarily as a tourist attraction and a school for Soleri's particular brand of architecture and design.
Several problems seem to have plagued the project.
As a purely volunteer venture, it was supposed to be built by hand by its inhabitants but it proved difficult to attract people to the remote desert site, train them sufficiently, and keep them inspired to work with concrete and dirt in the Arizona heat. Young eco-conscious architecture students and artisans initially flocked to the site but few others. Also, Soleri's arcology plans were typically based on one or more core industries which would provide the primary source of export revenue for the community. Of course, much of Soleri's work is purportedly more symbolic than practical. But it appears that the biggest problem for Arcosanti was that no one anticipated the suburban boom that has hit the American southwest.