noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Urban development theory proposed by Paolo Soleri involving three-dimensional building methods and efficient use of space and resources. uncountable
2. 2
   An extremely large building or complex, sufficient to maintain an internal ecology as well as an extremely high human population density. countable

   "Behind the port lay the city, factory domes dominated by the vast cubes of corporate arcologies."

Example

More examples

"An arcology is a self-sufficient community, complete with agriculture, contained within a single structure."

Etymology

Blend of architecture + ecology, coined by Italian architect Paolo Soleri in 1969.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.