Solarpunk

In steampunk, cyberpunk, etc. the “-punk” implies that the genre highlights a fault in current society. Whether corporate greed, over-industrialization, or other issues, these genres tend to show the dystopian world that comes from the identified fault. Solarpunk takes a different approach: it recognizes the conflict of human pollution and shows a utopian logical extreme. Solarpunk strives to show what society can look like upon full integration with nature.

Figure 1: Overview shot of a solarpunk society

Figure 1 shows a broad image of a series of buildings, all with very organic elements integrated into the man-made structures. One of the key elements of solarpunk is a seamless combination of nature and humanity. Typically, this is expressed in foliage covered structures and buildings with more resemblance to treehouses than what we see in the world today.

Figure 2: “Dear Alice” Chobani Ad

One of the other primary aspects of solarpunk aesthetic is the use of wind and solar-based technology. As part of the “humans blending with nature” the aesthetic almost demands that human power and energy is also sourced from nature. In the image above, you can see a series of floating turbines over a series of vibrant fields.

Figure 3: Canal in a solarpunk neighborhood

Note the prominence of electricity. While solarpunk focuses on the idea of letting nature in, it does not try to sacrifice the idea of human comfort. While the whole aesthetic may seem like an over-idealized future, ideas like this are already implemented in parts of the world. Examples include vending machines in Japanese gardens and the remarkable greenery that permeates much of Roma district in Mexico City.

Figure 4: Fountain with residences towards the bottom

Admittedly, this image does not cohere with the solarpunk aesthetic. However, it does display certain elements of the genre. For example, the hovels and residences towards the  bottom of the image are almost on top of lily-pads on the water below. Further, the massive fountain and the entire keep is located amid the forest. Though this is a far more fantastical representation, it shows that solarpunk aesthetic does not need to sacrifice scale of inorganic infrastructure.

Figure 5: Harvesting fruit in a solarpunk society

One of the core concepts of solarpunk is less that humanity is so advanced that technology overshadows nature, but that humanity is so advanced that technology can be solely reliant on nature. The image above shows that technology is still in wide use (even when impractical). This task of picking fruit could have been done via a ladder and hands. Instead, some futuristic inventor went out of their way to develop a robot intended specifically for picking fruit. This demonstrates that in solarpunk, while technology interacts with nature, its frequency and applications are not limited because of nature.

References:

Figures 1 & 3: https://fasterplease.substack.com/p/solarpunk-futurism-seems-optimistic

Pethokoukis, J. (2023, September 6). ☀ Solarpunk futurism seems optimistic and whimsical. but not really. https://fasterplease.substack.com/p/solarpunk-futurism-seems-optimistic

Figures 2 & 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Ng5ZvrDm4

THE LINE. (2021, July 13). Dear Alice Ciobani Ad. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Ng5ZvrDm4

Figure 4: https://www.artofmtg.com/art/fountainport/

Tucker, L. (n.d.). Fountainport MTG Art from Bloomburrow by Leon Tukker. Art of Magic: the Gathering. https://www.artofmtg.com/art/fountainport/