SolarPunk Cities: Our Last Hope?
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00:00 INTRO
00:55 SOLARPUNK IS…A YOGURT AD?
02:44 Hollywood Hates SP
03:55 Suburbs
05:23 The Garden City Movement
08:53 Existing "Solarpunk" communities
13:59 A lack of identity Problem
15:30 The Future is Pessimist?
Synopsys
In a world where the dark, dystopian visions of Cyberpunk have long dominated our sci-fi imaginations, a new genre emerges as a beacon of hope: Solarpunk
#cyberpunk #solarpunk #architecture
Reference:
'Almere: The First Solarpunk City?' - Blue Labyrinth: bluelabyrinths.com/2023/02/13...
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Don't forget to share this video to spread the word about SolarPunk!
Your production values are 10/10
Will do! Thanks for exposing me to the idea of SolarPunk - I've never heard of it before, and I love it! SciFi is often so dark, but having a positive option to fantasize about is refreshing :)
As someone who isn't exactly a revolutionary, would probably prefer a "solarcore" rather than a "solarpunk" goal. The "-punk" part is rooted in a revolt against something (usually the forces/entities that would drive the world toward a cyberpunk setting) and so something like wanting to make solarpunk a reality ends up leading to a "it HAS to be this way, or we've failed!" mindset. A "making perfect the enemy of good" sort of thing. Sudden change creates disruption, but also chaos. Not just within the malignant forces/entities, but also in those just wanting to survive in peace. So any progress must be gradual, and well-planned instead.
I think,
Singapore is an example of solarpunk
Next. Episode Soviet microdistrict vs usa suburb
In my opinion, forming a specific architectural vision for solarpunk is hard because of it's focus on nature, the kind of materials you use will depend on your area and it's ecosystem. Even the styles should pull from local cultures and tradition to really bringout the human factor of it all.
100% agree! I think solarpunk is basically what the climate and environmental justice movement have been advocating for, community-based and led approaches. Which will def be different in Brazil X Netherlands
Yeah the idea of a set form and style, is sort of opposite to the very nature of solarpunk. You aren't supposed to be glued to things like that; you're supposed to appreciate and conserve whatever you come across.
Right, I think the aesthetic of solar-punk is that it blends in with the nature around it - rounded and organic shapes integrated into the natural space. So it’s never going to be one “thing.” And yet, we kind of know it when we see it. Perhaps a specific architectural movement will coalesce to popularize the movement. Earthships are a good call out.
@@artlesscalamity348 Maybe it will manifest with an architectural style. But also I wonder, what if the reason we recognize solarpunk isn't the architecture so much as the philosophy behind it? Complete acceptance of nature is so rare in modern society, that if you see it in a city you essentially have to be reminded of solarpunk
I agree and I think it's very helpfull to maintain cultural aspects
I absolutely LOVE these video essays about these dystopian and utopian architecture styles, design and culture from this channel
I also absolutely love this woman.
same but im tired of seeing so much ai imagery on youtube videos because the imagery while unique tends to mesh together under a weird filter and lack of real world understanding.
@@whateverd it'll get better I think! For now it's pretty cool aready
Well we all learned a new word.
brooooooooo they are not architectural styles -- so much more -- the architecture is a byproduct of greater normative change -- fine arts ppl smh
I like the idea of combining solarpunk with a dense brutalist city
Taking this cold and lifeless environment and filling it with natural and organic matter just seems beautiful to me
It's basically my two main interests combined into one
The "I can fix him" of architecture
It's not that wild a leap honestly. A big feature of sustainability is efficiency of space. Imagine a city of a million people with existing technology. Under a lot of solar punk artistic visions there is an improvement to current cities with an emphasis on green spaces and an attempt to harmonise with the natural environment. The catch is it is inherently wasteful because this vision requires a lot of space, a lot of infrastructure, and a lot of energy to connect the parts to the whole. To me it really looks like a remodelled suburbia. We need to escape this idea that there can be a middle between urban and rural. You gain the benefits of neither and lose the benefits of both with such an approach. Now take a million people in a cyberpunk aesthetic. High density and efficient use of space. Not only can this vision of a city be a cool place to live if human wellbeing is a focus, it also maximises space, minimises waste, and can be a blueprint for sustainability if the cityscape places this as a serious value and concern. I don't think a brutalist city necessarily is ugly either if it is constructed to a human scale (rather than car centric) and allows for dynamic and interesting vistas.
Or... we can build beautiful vernacular buildings and put climbing vines and bushes and trees everywhere? :D
Brutalism has very high maintenance needs to be able to survive longer. These needs make it incompatible with anything organic growing on them. Think of the pioneer plants, which convert raw rock into some primordial soil.
The concrete brutalist buildings are that rock. The structural elements may and will be converted into soil with time. That's why we demolish overgrown buildings...
@@countessmargoth469the town in the ad seems to be a rural small town though, not a suburb
The roots burying into the concrete, threatening to collapse the building: *Hello there*
I honestly like the idea of the brutalist architecture in a solar punk society. Something about the greens against the grays just hits for me
Yes imagien these grey stone blocks covered in plants and solar fields.
Watching Blade Runner 2049 and playing cyberpunk 2077, seeing the city so disgusting and depressing asf. Very ghetto
Agreed. Though i kinda would love just some slight sprinkles of cyberpunk, specifically the visual aesthetic, mixed in too. Specifically the well known colorful neon/LED lighting of cyberpunk cities. I think it could mix in well if used sparingly. Wouldn't be hologram ads all over the place like in Bladerunner 2049, but more like the city of Chongqing in China (look up some videos of it at night it's really cool), where the lighting is just meant to be pretty for the most part. Maybe also lean into a lot of the greenery being bio-luminescent at night to function as both night lighting for humans but would be unobtrusive for human/animal circadian rhythm. I believe even today the bio-engineering tech to make plants be bio-luminescent exists, it just doesn't have any widespread use currently outside of "look we did a thing in a lab". And maybe even some flourishes of LED lights and such. LED/OLED is very low power and could be powered with a buildings solar, and LED/OLED lighting can change color temperature to match the warm/cool hues of day and night to also keep circadian rhythm in check. So i think it'd work.
I love solar punk. It is a movement that gives me so much hope for the future. I started gardening on my city balcony this year thanks to being introduced to solar punk and its given me such a deeper connection to nature and a drive to preserve nature and biodiversity. I think most importantly that instead of the world's problems seeing too large for any one person, solarpunk says "hey, you can make a difference to your community", and that brings so much renewed energy and hope for the future that i think is really important
💯
And yet it's nothing but a commercial and some still AI-generated images. No movies no literature to codify the ideas. The irony of it being just hollow consumerism or miniscule communes of nondiverse coethnics is palpable.
That means you haven't really delved into that community and i commend you to keep it that way. The movement has become co-opted by both lazy commercialism and communist/socialists/feminism. It's become a tainted apple. The basic ideas, however, are very fundamental to what i believe is a better future, a future where we value communities and we live in smaller, almost completely resource autonomous, instead of stacking together like sardines, which lead to a lack of privacy which in turn leads to isolation to compensate but being social animals this is extremely harmful and we've been seeing the consequences of this in our modern era with all these tribal political wars of brainwashing and social engineering.
Sadly, a solarpunk civ is doomed to die with it's sun, as technology advancement is very VERY heavily influenced by capital gains. We could have small solarpunk communitie and adopt the aesthethics, but humanity will never be solarpunk.
@@bar-1studios lefties love solarpunk because it is basically anti-capitalism, and everything the left touches becomes women, native and black, with mabe a mexican to represent all of latinamerica (extremely racist, but what can you expect from theleft) and a couple chinese to represent all asians. It's funny how the left claims to be diverse but they are way less diverse than the conservatives ideas-wise, not to mention their false tolerance claims.
@@rRekko I wouldn't be so pessimistic. I think everything will get worse, richer capitalists are going to exploit the rest of humanity until the planet is devastated. People will be dying from poor living conditions faster than expected according to the current projections for future population decline. And once only the richest 1% of people remain, they will change the system. The trend of humanity dying out will be clear by then and the common background and the threat they face will create a sense of community that allows them to work together and create something more sustainable, something more solarpunk.
I think that the fact that cyberpunk books and movies and other artistic expressions are getting more noticed today is definitely a GOOD sign. I want my future more similar to solarpunk BECAUSE I've whatched and read dozens of movies and books depicting cyberpunk and I was like "Holy shit this feels so real we have to do something to stop it"
Might be already too late. We may now be an AI copied from a human consciousness uploaded to a digital world thinking we are real lol
@@hakimmacpat1225 anything is as real as the individual think it is. If we were simulated by computers (which I strongly doubt being even possible) so what? We dont even know what "real" actually even means. You could technically argue that the universe is only a giant pc and whe are a simulation of that universe and so what, is being simulated less real than not being?? Do ypu think you are an individual?? Do you feel it?? Do you believe that your thoughts are different and unique than anyone else?? Well then you are real, even if we were a simulation.
Also, if we are simulated you can relax because you know that anything that happens is just part of the simulation and you have no oyher option than to play with it. And If you dont play with it then you are not a simulation so you are real and shouldnt worry. So I dont think worrying about maybe being a simulation is that important
oh i see. Im not trying to argue whether we should worry that we are in a simulation. because the conversation of what is real is not is a rabbit hole i dont even want to fuck with. Anyway, one of the most popular tropes of cyberpunk is usually virtual reality. and there are some some stories (ahem matrix) were the characters dont even know they are in a digital simulation. Just highlighting that preventing something like that to happen when it probably already happen. Do I worry about something like that? certainly no.
I've found myself relating to people in cyberpunk a lot more than should be normal.
I miss the days when our escapism from this world was to look into a brighter future rather than trying to move back to the past(fruitiger aero).
I have yet to hear someone say "Modern art is so beautiful, I've regained my faith in humanity!" Is this a side effect of growing older or is the world really getting shittier?
WE ARE ALREADY IN THE PRELIMINARY STAGES OF CYBERPUNK... AND IN FACT, I AM PRETTY SURE THAT EVEN THOUGH LIVING IN A CYBERPUNK WORLD WOULD BE GRIM, YOU WOULDNT LIKE TO LIVE IN "SOLARPUNK" BECAUSE NOTHING IS IDEALISTIC, AND IF SOMETHING IS ALL BRIGHT AND CHEERY, THERE'S DEFINITELY MUCH WORSE GOING DOWN. YOU PROBABLY WILL HAVE ZERO FREEDOM IN A SOLAR- WORLD... ZERO PUNK
Fun fact, in the 1990 Total Recall movie, you can seen part of the dystopian city in all of its brutalist splendor. That massive complex of concrete passages and streets on the first half of the movie were shot at the Mexico City Metro, mostly at the Insurgentes Station.
A video about anti consumerism is sponsored by one of the biggest corporations in history,it’s very ironic 😂
Living in and growing up in a garden city and seeing it be sold out is an incredibly devastating marker in the course of history.
On the theme of solar punk.
Could you design a series of three different interpretations of the hanging gardens of Babylon, incorporating three different stages of technological advancement, one low technology ( perhaps using capillary attraction to move water to the higher terrace and filtering down using a series of bell siphons), one using current technology (perhaps renewable energy like wind and solar capture systems and electric pumps to move water before cascading down terraces) and one high technology (perhaps surrounding a central fusion reactor and magnetic levitation carousels that go from a base pool to high level full sun exposure)?
If Ebenezer Howard inspired the garden city movement, creating new ideas could inspire a new movement other than one of a cyberpunk dystopia.
Damn right XD
That's because the people wanted it that way. People vote with their dollar
As a Dutch person and having worked for the municipality of Almere. The city doesn't have a great reputation. They tried. especially the city centre isn't recieved well by the people. But they are doing a lot of trials and experimentation with city building like Oosterwolde and Floriade. I reccommend looking those up. They also have plans to make the city centre greener! Almere is getting better!
Floriade was a disaster for a whole other topic. I find that Almere feels really soulless, because all the architecture is so 'designed' and not naturally happen that way. It does make for some convenient things, like the bus roads and a very navigatable map that's easy to memorize for someone like me, who's perpetually lost and I'm also a food deliverer. But I feel that the big open spaces are brutal when we have the harsh winds and I'm on the Evenaar (the big Aorta of Almere Buiten's roads) a lot and there's just nothing to stop the winds from blowing everything away. I also feel like climate change is and will increase wind speeds on average, so I'm afraid of the future.
@@takkiemon ah too bad the floriade wasn't great. The idea was cool :)
I only know the centre/shopping district on the way to the municipality. And it is not a great experience to walk there. Maybe it's a bit better when the station is finished... or when they implement more green in the city. But in general not really a good example for "solarpunk"...
Meh
The key to good urbanism isn't more nature. Look at dense historical city centres of European cities. They often don't have that much greenery, yet they feel cozy and pleasant. You primarily need good urban fabric and good buildings.
@@Rebasepoisscozy and pleasant? I wholeheartedly disagree, they feel cold and somewhat impersonal, kinda hostile...
I just learned about the father of the Appalachian trail Brenton Mckaye who had a much different vision for the trail than what it ended up as. He envisioned a sort of communal trail of volunteers studying and sustaining the land and mountains. I think it’s time to move back to that vision
What? I did not know this! I'll have to look into this for sure!
Thanks for this. I never really had a name for the Solarpunk genre, but now that you talk explicitly about its architectural principals (or lack of thereof), it really helps. I now see that I've actually read a solarpunk novel: Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. It takes place in a society with advanced, but non-intrusive tech, buildings that melt back into the Earth after a period of time, and a main character that is a traveling tea monk. So, tech that helps humans to be in harmony with the Earth and a different philosophical take on what it means "to contribute."
You might like the channel "Andrewism" he does a lot of videos on solarpunk, and discussed that exact book with the channel Pop Culture Detective a little while ago.
@@otherperson Thank you!
I feel that realistically, both SolarPunk and CyberPunk are going to sort of coexist together. A comunal based society is going to be impossible in cities predicted to be like the pearl river delta but in an agricultural environment, is highly likely that technology and agricultural efficiency would develop that way (sort of how the rural Netherlands are right now)
Yeah, from how it seems, the ideals of Solarpunk aren’t exactly feasible with larger populations.
Rural Netherlands is most definitely not solar punk, I'm afraid. It's firmly in the grip of big agricultural business and without a car it's unliveable. Of course there are solar punk like pockets and initiatives, but those can be found in our cities as well. P
Cities are going to exist for a while until the population crashes down somewhawt.
It's impossible on the basis that you gotta relocate billions of people somewhere or put them into stasis/hibernation so that the planet can repair itself while humanity can keep evolving... You know, by colonizing space?
Are y'all just forgetting about Africa?
Solarpunk all the way. Don't kill what you hate, Save what you love. Your videos are so insightful. Thank you for all your efforts.
That phrase was used way better here than in SW the Last Jedi. 😅
the worst phrase, not only said in Star Wars, but probably in the history of cinema.
What happens when to Save what you love you must kill what you hate (or dont hate, but all the same)? This has been the reasoning for most wars and violence in general. One side needs what the other has to sustain itself. If it cannot be given or traded, it must be taken by force. Thus is the history of humanity.
I mean, duh. Cyberpunk is anti-utopia, of course it's not something to look up to.
@@yorhaunit8s anti-utopia to the people at the bottom. cant create a utopia for everyone all at once.
Might be my favorite video on your channel so far. Thank you for this very educational, informative, and entertaining essay. It’s perfect for what I’m researching right now about the history and differing approaches to utopia
I forgot it was 2024.
Ursula Le Guin's novel "Always Coming Home" imagines a community which is completely integrated into nature (to the point where their word for "people" includes animals, plants and features of the landscape). It is a radical vision of a completely different way of life to the one we are living now.
Thank you for the video; really interesting.
If killing a person includes eating plants then every person will be in a Cyberpunk prison.
Is the book worth a read?
Yes. It is a very unusual novel, consisting of documents collected by an archaeologist of the future about the community. So it has chapters about their poetry, medicine, food, memoirs of a woman who left the community and came back, their history... Very unusual and beautifully written.
I need to read this
Thanks for the tip, sounds amazing! It reminded me of another book, The Island by Aldous Huxley. It's a journalist of sorts that finds a society (kinda south Asian, a mix of Hinduism and other cultures and I guess his imagination?) were, as an example, the big guys use their tendency to want to dominate and show their might not by being bullied but are sent to chop wood before winter, so they use their strength for the good of society.
Your videos have reminded me how much I HUNGER for someone to talk about these issues seriously. Eco-design, cyberpunk, brutalism, arcologies... all of these architectural topics are VITAL to the plot, setting and mood of the books, movies, anime and comics that I devoured as a developing young adult. Now, at 50, I YEARN to see these ideas and movements grow from "weird experiments" into real implementation. And inevitably, as science and art continue to grow, architecture will morph into new ideas that we couldn't have dreamed of in the 50's or 70's.
Your channel is tapping into a deep part of me; I had almost forgotten how much these topics delight and excite me. And, like probably most people here, I am not an architect. I'm a physicist / mathematician. But learning more about the real history and science that led to these architectural ideas is FASCINATING to me!
I'm SO glad to see that SO MANY people seem to feel the way I do about this project/channel. You and your growing team are doing an amazing job. Thank you so much; I feel like I have been giving a precious gift. It has reinvigorated a decades old passion of mine, and makes me feel young and excited again. 🤗💕
Soviet microdistrict vs USA suburb
Happy to be here with you as someone who works at a non profit not connected to architecture either!
I absolutely loved this video! Philosophy, architecture, social science, optimism, criticism, humor and style!
A lot of videos have some of these, few have many of these, but a mere handful have all of them (switch out "architecture" with other sciences\design schools\etc. and ut still works for me).
I came here because I saw some of the shorts - but I'm gonna stick around to see what else there is around here.
I am very selective with my subscriptions, and more so with my notifications, and this channel just got both!
Ughhhhh thank you so much for this. Your eloquence and your sense of drama is delightful. I’ve been having dreams of solarpunk futures and it warms my heart to hear others researching (and actively hoping for?) a sense of possibility. Thank you for this. Your work has resonance and incidence on me. And I will share the wisdom with others. 🦎
Dude, I've been trying to define this movement on my own for awhile. I'm glad to here there are formal movements and aesthetics. Solarpunk, garden city, earthship. This gives me so many resources to draw creativity from! Thanks for the video.
You should also look into Permaculture since that would tie pretty deeply into the harmony with the ecology parts.
Ideas of living in space have some of these elements because it's such a controlled environment.
Kirsten Dirksen on youtube has a bunch of housetours and I'd say about half of them are solarpunk. I remeber there was this one apartment/condo place that was like a bunch of boxes jigsawed together with trees growing in 15' diameter pots taller than person dotted around the facade, and the whole building wrapped like a letter C around a small forest. Each apartment had at least one large patio, and they had a shallow pool underneath the whole thing at ground level to keep it cool and such. It was a really great tour, I suggest you check it out.
I am a born and raised New Mexican gal, but down south. This is oilfield country so to a lot of locals, sustainability feels like a threat to people’s livelihood. It’s unfortunate. Because of this, most people in my town wouldn’t know what an Earth Ship was if you asked.
I don’t have any plans to ever purchase a home anywhere, I want to build an Earth Ship of some kind right here in New Mexico. I met a gentleman in El Paso, TX who was building something with a similar idea, and he was using old fabric and concrete to build homes super cheap.
It pleases me to know there are people out here experimenting and trying something different, and it gives me confidence that it can be a real possibility.
i feel like no matter what a home will be expensive because everything is design for it to be so. Material prices have skyrocketed as well as labor. Then theres laying down utility lines which is a fortune and lastly all the restrictions on the land from local goverments. These "earth ship" homes you speak of sound like fairy tales.
Fellow New Mexican, I agree with how little local towns and cultures (surprisingly especially rural communities centric around farming and huntin up north) are interested in sustainability, despite the fact these communities are already more geared towards it than the cities. That being said, there's a lot of people out here in the desert who are super interested in Earth Ships and sustainable living. Many people I know in my 20s have aspirations for a sustainable, communal living situation.
I'm not sure people really understand the concept of sustainability. If we could a way to balance the use of fossil fuel with the environment; that could be sustainable, and considerably cheaper than a hard shift.
Regardless social cause, and entertainment should remain separate. People consume entertainment to escape reality, not to get nagged.
They’re not interested in “sustainability” because 99% of the time, it’s a code word for “reduction in your standard of living”.
@@Ultroumboneeplus I don't think we can just get rid of fossil fuels just yet. solar and wind aren't reliable enough. And people are too afraid of nuclear still to go along with that... nevermind that we use petroleum products in everything.
First time watcher, loved the video, cool insights into the practicalities of solarpunk. Never knew about these cool Dutch towns, thanks for referencing them !
I really love this channel and how you try to help us understand architecture and morality.
All my life I've struggled to understand cities in terms of identity. The videos on Kowloon Walled City, CyberPunk cities, Megacities and this one on Solar Cities has helped me make sense of some of the questions I had.
I still love the visuals of CyberPunk as fiction perhaps in part due to having grown up living in a brutalist, uncladded multi-storey high-rise flat in the city outskirts where even the fences were formed of shaped concrete posts and metal rails and the ground a uniformly slabbed place that rose up in places during the warm summers, intersected by strangely out of proportion "growing plant beds" which were originally fenced off with rough sticks wired together but grew little but litter, discarded pages from pornographic magazines and discarded beer cans. As kids we had fun nonetheless in this weird urban playground, but what a strange place it was.
I write science fiction and this video is spot-on.
EDIT: Solarpunk may be a difficult genre to gain traction partially because it's very existence runs against our modern (and 'Western') way of life and thinking. A sustainable, eco-community NOT rooted in capitalism and Western democracy comes across as foreign, alien, and impractical. While it presents itself as a natural utopia, Solarpunk seems to promote weird hippie-pagan cults that don't work in the real world. Cyberpunk may be fictional too, but these gritty narratives against oppressive regimes typically have real-life tangents to draw to and identify with. Solarpunk is lite in it's philosophy, but it creaks under it's own pretentious weight.
On the other hand, the Solarpunk sub-genre appears to work well on both an elementary and a visual level. The natural aesthetics in the Chobani ad are reminiscent of Studio Ghibli animes, and the eco-friendly messages are typically family-friendly. A relaxed coming-of-age narrative or a romance would work well, so long as the setting doesn't try to over-explain its own existence. Also, as the video shows, Stardew Valley is an excellent example of a successful Solarpunk, so there are certainly millions that enjoy this sub-genre.
Solarpunk may be seen as an impractical and even self-contradictory sub-genre, but it's philosophy is outside the conventions of our modern lives. Anyways, for those of us yearning for a greener tomorrow, I hope we get to see more and more examples of this wonderful sub-genre in the near future.
I think the fantastical weirdness of solarpunk is something worth leaning into. Cyberpunk draws on esoteric themes of both transcendence and demonology in a way golden age sci-fi never did, and it did so quite effectively to shift the tone technological progress. I think we could do something similar with solarpunk
Focusing on protagonists undergoing initiation and metamorphosis from a cyberpunk paradigm to a solarpunk paradigm might actually be the way to go. I'm thinking of something like the Matrix, where the the main arc is the protagonist shifting from the brutal, banal self-interest of cyberpunk the more hopeful, but also the more devastating reality of solarpunk, whereby the radical interconnection of themselves with the world is highlighted, and just how far we've let ourselves go in the vain pursuit of consumption. From there, you can start to introduce the more woo aspects of solarpunk, once the reader is on board.
Utopian scifi in general doesn’t gain much traction. Practically the only example I can think of is Star Trek
solarpunk is an aesthetic and theme, like steampunk. im sick of idiots trying to turn this into a political movement.
I will repeat what I posted earlier, its a fact that there isn’t a single cyberpunk or steampunk game or movie or book that perfectly fits the definition of “punk”, its simply absurd that people obsess and gatekeep this specific solarpunk aesthetic. when was the last time a single steampunk novel had any punk in it. So many cyberpunks have you play as a police of detective or corporates head of state, going against the punks. some cyberpunk series is actually pro capitalism etc.
@@FigureOnAStick I think you're onto something there, that's loosely in the same plot thread of Stardew Valley and Avatar!
For the longest time I was a big fan of cyberpunk and dystopian landscapes, but over time I've found myself leaning more towards solarpunk recently. The hopeful concepts of animals and plants flourishing in a lively city, it's almost like getting spend everyday on a wonderful hike. I wonder how the overlap would be combining Solarpunk, Rustic architecture, and transcendentalist values. It would probably make the perfect green city.
I just find it illogical unless we can colonize other planets. Density is always the problem I find with solarpunk and then if that is solved by interplanar colonization I find space operas more interesting for there political and economical aspects.
@@aaronmontgomery2055 I find that to be more illogical just due to the unlikelihood of life on any planet near us, where as humans rebuilding into a green society can be more inspiring due to the tangibility of those concepts.
@@nikeyy35 In small dystopian future where humans are cattle maybe but if they have freedom to any extent then the green society doesn't work unless we get to other planets. How do you deal with increased populations without culling people considering limited space in which they can occupy?
Are you speaking of intelligent life? I don't see why we even want that. For colonization I am speaking of changing the atmosphere of planets to make them livable and such for us.
Personally I like Biopunk. Although when talking about living in a world associated with a “-punk” prefix, I more so mean bioluminescent lights and not flesh-monsters.
@@aaronmontgomery2055 bruh what are you on about? We already have green cities lol I live in Vancouver. It's the solar aspect that makes no sense. We don't have the capability to sustain ourselves off just solar energy. We do not have any way to store the energy effectively enough. Until battery technology advances or we figure out soemthing else, it's currently a pipe dream
I am blown away by the depth of your exploration of this theme. thank you it was a joy to watch! And listen to :)
Omg I think your channel is exactly what I’m looking for. I took an architecture and urban design class in college and I’ve been trying to emulate what I’ve learned from that class. And a lot of what you’ve talked about: Garden City, Bauhaus, hollywoods depiction, identity, is exactly what I learned about. Gonna sub!
I've been involved in the Solarpunk movement for about a year now and have found great hope and power, not only from the optimistic vision it gives but also the community of people dedicated to it. It intersects so much with past movements like the arts and crafts movement, DIY/open source engineering communities, anarchist movements, etc. I'm glad the concept is gaining traction and agree that we need more real-world implementations!
Hey, what do you mean about being involved in it?
Could you specify what “being involved with the solar punk movement” looks like? I think a lot of people are looking for concrete and material actions that they can become a part of.
I mean I’ve been involved in intentional living communities, squats and punk houses, homesteading, urban guerilla gardening, etc.. but I don’t associate these with solar punk. How does the solar punk movement manifest in real-world action?
@@artlesscalamity348From what I can see, participating in an online community and sharing Solarpunk art and ideas is the movement right now. As such a broad/unfocused and pro-incrementalism concept, many activities (including all the ones you list) *are* Solarpunk. What the Solarpunk movement brings to the table is an overall vision of a better world, so that the countless small actions that it takes to get there will feel more purposeful; and so that inter-group connections between e.g. anarchists, gardeners, and ecofeminists can build on a shared vision and an aesthetic.
can you give us some tips on places to start, things to read and check out?
I'd get the ball rolling by saying community garden co-ops, ZADs (France), hackerspaces, food co-ops, housing co-ops, ... ?
@@TheCalmack My two cents: activism! Every group is different, but many are very non-hierarchical, whether by accident or by very intentional design. It's a great way to make a difference with an issue that matters to you while getting your feet as far as existing in a non-hierarchical group!
Cyperpunk is a concept that came with a very specific message. It's about the idea that having custom technology forces you to be reliant on the people who make those technologies. Cyberpunk was never meant to be an ideal future. It has always been a warning, one that was shoved underneath the rug to make way for it.
Solarpunk, or hopepunk as I have heard it called, _is_ supposed to be an ideal future where we are once again at balance with the natural world. It's not just a concept or an idea, it is a goal to strive for.
Which is hilarious because I've encountered "utopianist" fiction time and time again in scifi.
"SolarPunk" in practice would be worse than most CyberPunk excesses. At least the heroes in cyberpunk tales are genuine punk. Individualist, libertarian leanings.
Every time some "HopePunk" aficionado tries to explain how they get their ideal I just see The Longhouse rearing it's tyrannical head once again.
You have to understand the 'punk' part. Before the inevitable sellout that all 'punk eventually encounters, it's about counter-cultural rebellion and disregard for authority. It's defined by what it rejects.
Cyberpunk media thrived in the 80s and 90s: Technology was advancing vast, but so was libertarian politics and corporate powers. Cyberpunk imagined a future world of advanced tech and limited freedom, when multinational corporations replaced governments as superpowers. It casts the technology as a tool which is used by both the oppressors and those fighting them. Cyberpunk needs an ominous mega-corp headquartered in a giant windowless monolith of a building - but it also needs the hero, the hacker in the shadows who will break down that company firewall and expose their terrible secrets to the world. Who cares about their ideals more than they care about making money.
Cyberpunk is a genre that opposes unrestricted capitalism, by casting it in the role of the villain.
Hopepunk doesn't really have that kind of depth. Where's the villain? Is the villain consumerism? It's not really clear. It's an asthetic, but that's all it is.
@@bar-1studiosThere are no heroes in cyberpunk, just dead people that don't know they are dead yet
@@williamwolfstein6170 very Keynesian.
Heroism isn't about whether or not you live or die, it's about what you do with the time you're allotted.
@@bar-1studiosnice gandalf quote
Whoa, I was shocked to see my city Almere where I live. Like to mention that Almere is in the province Flevoland that contains huge wind turbine fields. Couple more of such fields and the entire province Flevoland including it's big cities like Almere-Stad, Almere-Buiten, Almere-Haven, Almere-Poort, Almere-Duin (where I'm at), Almere-Nobelhorst and many to come will be it's own energy powerplant.
I always learn something from your videos (I'm on team solarpunk and an incorrigible optimist myself). I confess I could never understand how anyone could want a "brutalist" architecture - at least not to live in for oneself!
One theme I would be very interested to see you treat, is early Soviet experimental architecture. A lot of it remained mere dream projects (floating aerial cities for example), but I believe there were also some interesting efforts to design factories and workplaces that would actually be agreeable for the people working in them.
As a fellow solar freak architecture student, your videos consistently remind me of why I study. Thank you for helping me keep the hope💙💙
Try "Edenicity"
Same. I'm interested in environmental engineering, so these videos are inspiring & helpful.
We definitely need more people like you!
This whole video gave me inspiration for a SimCity like video game: you start out with a patch of post-apocalyptic land and are give a choice of what style "-punk" city you want to develop. Then you have to deal with the problems of sustainability such pollution, water usage, hackers or in solar punk's case protection from outside forces.
Sounds like Anno 2070
Sooo.... anno 2070?
So to win as SolarPunk you *retvrn* to "Hobbit Fascism"?
10/10 would play
While I have often enjoyed dystopic stories, I am really intrigued by Solar Punk, as this is the first time I am hearing about it. Thank you!
You might like the channel Andrewism, which discusses solarpunk at length. His video on city planning is great.
@@otherperson thank you!
Nice video ! thanks a lot, for solar punk, there is a book, the furtive, originally les furtifs that combines cyber and solar punk, where the cities are controlled by mega corpo but the people are trying to reinvest other living spaces outside of the cities, to form communities that lives in symbiosis with the environement. The book is in french though and I don't know if it has been translated. But if you can read french or find it in english it is a great novel.
You should check out our game Earthborne Rangers! It's related to Solar Punk and is a fully compostable card game that depicts a world where humankind works together to solve climate change. Our hope is that depicting a future where we "succeed" is the best way of inspiring people.
Really nice job guys, love it!
@@DamiLeeArch Thank you for the reply! And for the great video on what could be a very real and hopeful future!
Sorry but we should leave the climate alone and get to work removing our trash from the lands and waters. Climate change is like Jesus, we don’t all believe.
Whaaat this game looks amazing!
@@artlesscalamity348 Thank you! :)
You are a pearl on TH-cam when it comes to art, design and architecture content. I admire the topics of the channel and how the content is conveyed. If you make a Netflix series, it will be watched breathlessly.
Soviet microdistrict vs USA suburb
She's also a pearl irl, why does no one talk about her gorgeous looks and admiring smilee and dope dressing 😩❣️
I wish you had taken more time to explore problems and critisism on Almere and Aardehuizen. They sound like the perfect solution in your story, but as a Dutchie I know Almere is far from perfect. I was also curious why you think Earth Ships don´t have a coherent lay-out? The fact that they all look different is exactly the point right? And if I think of earth ships, I do get a picture in my head of organic looking, clay/glas combined houses surrounded by green. I really loved your video, I just discovered Solar Punk and I´m so excited to learn more. These were just some questions that arose! Thank you so much for the effort of making this video💚💚💚
Cyberpunk was a warning, not an aspiration. - Mike Pondsmith
The growth of your channel is astounding. Now, you're close to 900k subscribers! Wow! Congrats in advance, Architect Dami!
I've been a subscriber since late 2020.
damn you've been a subscriver since the future
@@pigeon_the_brit565 lol, I mean, September or October 2020
@@pigeon_the_brit565Would have had to say late 2020s actually 😂 Late 2020 is right on the money
Love this episode! I participated in a solar punk workshop that was ultimately published as a compendium of 4 short stories called, "The Weight of Light". Each team was made up of a sci-fi author, a graphic designer, and two scientists (one social scientist and one engineer). I was one of the scientists. Each team was assigned a different solar future to imagine. And the scientists on each team were there to keep the stories scientifically grounded. It was by far one of my favorite projects I've ever worked on.
Where can one buy a copy of the book? Can you please provide a link? This sounds interesting!
Thanks
@@jacquelynfrench9473 you can read it for free at the link I provided in the previous comment. They also have instructions for how to get a print-on-demand copy for 5 bucks ... if you prefer a physical copy.
@@iaasug Agreed!
@@jacquelynfrench9473if you just google “the weight of light” it will pop up
Found this video through the short, Adore your channel and it's entire vibe as well as the what you present things.
Park Guelle in Barcelona was supposed to be a garden suburb for the rich of Barcelona - but no one actually ever moved there besides the architect and the man who funded the project. Very interesting look into architecture too.
It already feels like we are in a cyberpunk dystopia at times but I want to believe we will get to that Solar Punk future.
well, we have cyborgs, we have corporative wars, we have netrunners... (sort of), we have advertising at our palm of the hands, so... we are basically in cyberpunk era.
Lol we won't. The oceans are producing less and less oxygen and soon it'll reach a critical point where the downward trend will be impossible to reverse. Humanity on Earth probably has around a hundred years or so left.
establish a solarpunk is as hard as ending capitalism
solarpunk is bland and boring id rather have cyberpunk with neon lights shjolograms advanced tech and all that just floating around
@@TwilightVaramek living in dystopia, most of people would live in slums, they'd just watching rich people using their neon hovercraft from below, and continue to fight each other for food or sex, it might not bland but it's horrible, and solarpunk won't be necessarily bland, as you can flying through green mountains and beaches or anywhere using free sustainable energy that makes your vehicle feels like a real wings, and foods would certainly abundant
Can't believe Dami s community is growing, very humbled to have started watching when you started, it's actually very easy to learn these concept watching your videos, Dami, all the best
Hi,
I walk in my city of Leiden, with all its hestorich past. Rembrand, the royal Dutch family, the first university in the world. There too came the manem who changed the world and still do. Sometimes I visit the courtyards' small square garden surrounded by complete one-person houses with the old furnishings from when they were built. They often belonged to a church and were monastery houses for old nuns, orphanages for girls or a resting place for the pastor. But when I sit on the bench, I always have an image in my head of three Shifas next to each other with the largest one in the middle, made of a dark marble, beautifully polished and reflecting in the sun. And then I feel the peace in my pockets and look at my watch and disappear for 3 hours in the MA. And what I have been thinking about or what has happened........., Just rest. Now it seems like I do this every day, but once every 2 years this was a day in my life. Now this is no longer possible, within 5 minutes the police arrive to ask what I am doing on the private property and can visit it once a year on the open day! Love youre content !!
The main issue with SolarPunk is actually the price. Cyberpunk is mass-produced by mega-corporations, steampunk is built to improve efficiency which makes more money, petrolpunk is basically what we're living in right now because petrol can be turned into fuel and plastics. But what makes solarpunk financially feasible? Can it at least be economical to build, even if it requires more frequent replacement for the buildings and decreased agricultural output? Currently not. However, there are a few ways to make it happen, and they do differ from climate to climate. But there are ways to make it feasible. Here is how I would to about it, first to make it connect to the agricultural industry, then for household structures.
Greenhouses made from steel and cement/concrete and glass can be made in cold climates, and fresnel mirror walls can be made with cheap metal mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight mostly onto the greenhouse in the winter and in the summer more of the sunlight can be reflected to solar panels. The greenhouses would only have windows on one side, and even the windows would need insulation by leaving air gaps between different layers of windows. The mirrors can be arranged to maintain a constant level of light onto the greenhouse from morning to night, the excess being used to heat either the walls or some other heat storage, or reflected onto solar panels to recharge batteries which to provide light for the plants during the night time, and which to power fans which to prevent mold growth by allowing condensation to form one of the walls and to be caught and stored for later usage.
In desert locations, things would go with shades instead, which can be solar panels or normal mirrors, or even white panels (and the white part can be paint), or even grass mats held above the plants with wooden poles. The panels would need to be arranged parallel to the ground, and slightly angled towards the sun's position in the sky, in order to shade the plants more during the scorching ours of the day, and very little or not at all during early mornings and late evenings. Alternatively, parabolic mirrors or parabolic fresnel mirrors can be used to concentrate the sunlight onto pipes through which oil is heated to almost 400°C, or through which air is heated to even higher temperatures, and the heat can be used for industrial processes (i.e. passive or mostly-passive thermal desalination of salt water), or for generating (mechanical or electrical) energy by using an updraft tower (which means ground level wind turbines with a very tall tower/chimney which to allow the heated air to rise at much higher speeds than if it were released directly, due to thermal expansion causing an increase in lift compared to the cooler air around the tower), and the mechanical power can be turned into electricity or used directly to power machinery like water pumps for reverse-osmosis water purifiers or for delivering the water to where it's needed, while the electricity could be used for recharging electric agricultural vehicles and for grow lights used during the night.
For household buildings, bricks can be mass-produced on-site from a mixture of cement and dirt (which can contain sand, but too much sand would also make them brittle), the bricks would be slightly angled so they can form an arch even if dry stacked, the bricks would need to be made water-resistant by using a more hydraulic cement to reduce the amount of water passing through, and the walls would also need to use a layer of hydraulic cement for waterproofing. Those bricks would need to be larger than firebricks, or red bricks, to reduce the amount of mortar used. For doorways, a different type of bricks would need to be made to connect the flat surface needed for a door with the arched surface needed for the tunnel structure, but for side walls that would not be needed. Sharper or smoother angles and corners can also be used, as well as different dimensions for the tunnels, to allow more architectural freedom, and freedom to add more types of insulation or other necessary things to have. For example, one house could be made from 3 tunnels in parallel connected to eachother and maybe having a fourth tunnel (of the same or different dimensions) connected at one side or somewhere between the ends of the other tunnels and at different angles, or maybe even wavy or circular. Another house could be a bigger tunnel with two smaller tunnels at both ends, to imitate the house with a bigger roof in the middle than on the sides, or even a star-shaped tunnel (aka. multiple tunnels connected together) or a dome with smaller tunnels branching out of the sides, symmetrical or not. Not only that, but special "window" bricks could be made from thick glass able to resist large hail, those bricks could be used all throughout the house to act either like solar lights (if frosty or duty or covered with leaves or whatnot) or like sky lights (if clean and clear), and on the inside sliders could be used to "turn off the sunlight" (turn off the lights), and to prevent light from getting out of the house in the night time.
But for that, zoning laws in the USA, and permit laws in most of the world, would need to be changed, to allow building with those shapes and materials. Floor plans would also be very different, because you would not have flat walls, for at least part of the house, but you can have the corners with a low height not be in the floor plans by filling them and making a wall more on the inside, which would also help with thermally insulating the house, and that could mean 1 meter or 1 yard or 3 feet on each side of the footprint being filled in, on each level, which could require thicker/stronger structural-support walls for keeping those walls up, or using lightweight insulation (i.e. spray foam, foam boards, aerated concrete) to fill that space without adding much more weight to those spaces.
Another interesting building technique would be using tunnels connected at different junctions, with more space in-between the tunnels, and filling above the tunnels with dirt and flattening the area to be able to grow crops on top of it (though you would likely need to add compacted concrete as an insulation layer between the roots and the tunnels, to prevent erosion). Not only that, but you can use a very large glass wall or dome and lots of hydraulic concrete/cement to allow light to get in through a lake, acting like an aquarium. The aquarium could also use mirrors to spread the light around, and it could be at a higher depth or connected to drainage tunnels bellow, to prevent or at least lessen a flood if the glass or the rest of the insulation were to fail. But even a shallow lake which is 1 meter or 1 yard or 3 feet deep (at least in the deeper parts where the glass connection would be) could still allow plenty of light through, while also not having so much water that a flood would be devastating to the occupants.
If you would like to talk more, I have the same username on other popular platforms.
As someone who grew up in Letchworth Garden City and recently moved out, you really can tell the difference between the way the towns are planned and laid out.
Yes Letchworth is mostly a suburb for people working in London, but it does have its own industrial area now and it's one of the largest in the county.
I really loved this video that gave background to my hometown. And validates my hope for a solarpunk future.
The original housing fits the three magnets ideas but now with new builds they have moved back to typical suburban layouts. Councils truly have no interest in maintaining Ebenezer Howard’s original values.
As a Dutch I'm of course on the Solarpunk side. I also like that you so nicely presented two Dutch cities. Oh yes and by the way I emigrated to France 20 years ago and I'm reading Neuromancer at the moment. But still I believe communal life in a sustainable Solarpunk environment trying to make things better, makes people much happier than all the negative individualism in Cyberpunk. Still the big problem in the Netherlands, at the moment, is that it is becoming very densely populated and more and more people want to come to the Netherlands. If people like the Dutch way of city planning then maybe they can try and set something up that is similar outside the Netherlands. For example the Strong Towns movement to make cities more livable and sustainable, is a great initiative to back.
Problem for a lot of people is that they don't want to wait 10, 20, 50 years for their cities to make the slow transitions the Netherlands are actively changing NOW. Luckily, there do seem to be several places in Europe which are actively taking action to follow in the Netherlands footsteps, but many other places, like North America, are actively making decisions to NOT follow in the Netherlands footsteps. It's gonna take multiple decades to not only dismantle the garbage red tape currently in place preventing the building of walkable and sustainable cities, but addition decades to then implement those changes. Some people believe it worth staying and fighting, even if they don't get to be around to see the fruits of what they fought for, but other people don't want to live in a hellscape waiting for a very unlikely "someday".
I'd argue that the root of these problems is administrative and fixable. The Netherlands is densely populated but the main issues stemming from that are designed or I guess a lack of design. The housing crisis for example is entirely artificial by decades and decades of falling short of building enough houses to even match natural population growth let alone account for immigration. This has been the case at least as far back as 1950. Immigration itself is not the cause here. There is plenty of space to build new cities in the northeast.
The issue is (neo)liberalization and assuming the market will choose the greater good instead of short term profit. Which clearly has failed. Sustainable housing is totally possible for a significantly higher density than even now exists. But it requires long term choices and proper designs. We've chosen the exactly opposite in the last 50 years.
6:18 That circular city was wild. Outside of the central city, you have "Epileptic Farms" (Epilepsy treatment), "Homes for Waifs" (Orphanage), "Home for Inebriates" (chemical abuse treatment), and "Insane Asylum" (mental health treatment). Then in the outer rings, you have "Convalescent homes" (hospice and long term medical treatment), as well as "Industrial homes" placed near stone quarries and reservoirs. Wonder what type of people would be living in the Industrial homes...
Loved it, thanks for all the work to put this together and post.
I am on the solar-punk-self-reliance-do-everything-ourselves community side of the spectrum - living it for 22 years on our homestead.
The problem is every government, and every industry don't want us to go solarpunk: they want the consumer-worker to be dependent and taxable at every turn. Your own profession follows this, ie building codes zoning regulation, tie into the (billable) grid/system. Opposite of what solar punk is really about - which is forget the rules and codes, do your own thing, produce your own stuff in a community endeaver and piss on the taxability of it all. instead of being a good little consumer/worker dependant.
To my mind it is the struggle between control and the trade off of who is responsible.
An excellent presentation on the challenges facing our future. While Cyber and Solar have their place culturally, it is more likely that the future will be not one or the other but some combination of both mixed with elements we haven't thought of yet. By and large, optimism is the better way to go. If we strive for better, even if we miss, there is improvement.
I really like your point of view on this. However, as someone that works in the industry, my pessimism is what fuels my desire to do better. Toma-tow Toma-toe
Vague appeals to individual "optimism" do nothing against the material reality of power and capitalism. If you want to shape a better future, you need to tackle these sources that force the anti-ecological, anti-societal and anti-human outcomes of the political economy of today.
We think it is possible to meet the problem of anti-ecology, etc with optimism in the future. Humanity has the capacity to solve severe problems. A sustainable future requires work. Are we a species up to this task? We believe in that possibility.@@SvalbardSleeperDistrict
It's already in there, don't give money to companies that treat you terribly.
@@SvalbardSleeperDistrictopulent the first step of achieving what you said is to be optimistic enough to believe that you can do that in the first place which would motivate action? No one said that optimism alone will get stuff done, just that it’s better than being pessimistic lmao
I discovered this channel a while ago and I’ve been fascinated with its content since!
I’m working on a comic and these videos make me question how I want to draw and portray architecture in my story!
So thank you for all the interesting and inspiring videos!
10:18 just took this to a whole nother level, over 9000. Thank you for covering solarpunk, ive been obsessed since discovering it, cyberpunk is so 2020 lol
Great video! One thing you skipped over was that Brutalism has been linked to Cyberpunk because the first Cyberpunk media was Fritz Lang's Metropolis, which incorporated Brutalism, Bauhaus, Cubist, Futurism, and Gothic influences - all of which recur in the Cyberpunk aesthetic to this day.
Liked and subbed. I have a lot of interest in sustainable planning and radical reimagining of how humans live. Been involved with earthships and urban gardening. And I think you are right - these changes, at large economic scale, will always bump up against the demands of capitalism. But when you scale it to a small local group, it becomes attainable (though not without its own socioeconomic challenges).
I think the draw of cyberpunk and dystopian vision is that it feels true already. We’ve already witnessed how nearly impossible it is to implement meaningful change, even as we become increasingly anxious and unsatisfied, and slow-disasters like climate change and massive wealth gaps loom over us. The urgency just isn’t there, at least not enough to radically change how we live. So it feels like the only way that kind of change would ever happen is through the force of inescapable consequences - things have to get SO BAD that future generations are willing to do anything to change it. I.e., dystopia.
It’s sad that humanity will probably have to suffer a lot more before we are willing to change, but in my observation that’s usually how it goes. The best insights and intentions are no match for greed, and we’ve learned a lot of bad habits and lowered our expectations. You can see it in politics as well. The frustration is that I think most people WANT changes, but we’re so (deliberately) fractured, cynical and distracted that it doesn’t amount to much.
Anyway, great essay, keep it up!
Solar punk is definitely an interesting thing. It kinda feels like the jazz of architecture. No real solid boundaries on how it works, just go with the flow.
Wanted to give a huge thanks to Dami and the team for checking out our original articles on Solarpunk and Almere! Amazing content as usual.
When I was working in construction, why could I not come across an architect like DamiLee? I enjoy the understanding and pragmatism to the craft. DamiLee is absolutely the kind of person I want to be friends with IRL. Thank you for the conversation and ideas!
Found your channel today and it has been SO informative and interesting. I'm writing a series of books set in an alternative future and it really draws on a mix of solar and cyber punk. This video in particular has been incredibly helpful for me in terms of designing the world my story is set in. Thank you so much!
I think modern solarpunk is missing something: Vertical farms. The USA doesn't seem to understand high rises and public transportation. Many countries in fact produce less pollution per capita because they build carless societies. I'd love to see some company out there produce high rise hydroponic vertical farms sandwiched between residential high rises. Super dense futurism, but the skyscrapers absorb carbon and ease food distribution.
Solarpunk has been my go-to visual comfort food for some time now.
Coming from India where even the basic urban infrastructure sucks, I would absolutely love to live in an Almere kind of settlement. Thanks for the introduction to that city.
India is basically in a density trap. We have the 16% of the population and 2% of the land. Our settlements are always going to be crowded when compared to ROW. The question is how to manage that. A very dirty cyberpunk is kinda the default.
You're right that land value drives development. But it's possible to share that values in ways different from today that might emphasise better community building.
I believe that especially in a country with such a divided population density, green high tech co-operative investment can make a big difference in creating more Solarpunk like development. In The Netherlands where I live, space is very limited so it's very hard to get land that is already suitable for these kinds of developments and they're severely limited in size. If a similar concept would get off the ground in a country with loads of very cheap land that is still rich in biodiversity, a concept like Aardehuizen could grow much larger very rapidly.
It just takes a small group of dedicated people who can bring together a starting investment for the land and are willing to make the project their life's work.
India can still improve if we can change the socio economic conditions of our people. Once we can dream of and work together towards a common dream, we will be able to become an aesthetic country too.
@@EricHrahsel I agree that poverty is one of the greatest blockers of such positive developments. Although rampant capitalism can also severely hamper progress.
I stumbled across this video, great production and content. Thoroughly enjoyed watching. Very thought provoking. Well done.
The Garden City is my kind of city! I cant believe they made a perfect example of how to be in a healthy environment so long ago and its not happening anywhere :(
To he honest, I’m not terribly bothered that solarpunk architecture takes places mostly outside the actual solar punk movement. I think the impact of the architecture alone is so emotionally positive and uplifting that it makes it worthwhile regardless of a political ideology. Maybe being stripped of that also opens doors to countries that want to keep their system of society but just create a pan overall nicer cityscape!
It seems like a good thing but sort of isn't, Imagine a Green City that doesn't truly recycle it just simply looks like a Green City. Not really addressing the problem, isn't it?
No, but if I have to chose between a brutalist hellscape and a solarpunk styled place, I’d chose the latter regardless of the other circumstances around it @@reaverfang377
That is probably why stories don't revolve around solarpunk architecture much. Almost all games and stories are based around some type of conflict. Nobody is going to read a book about a successful farmer having an easy time, enjoying life and harmonizing with society. What little solarpunk architecture there are in fiction, is always just a temporary backdrop which the character leaves, gets destroyed by the villian or has some sort of mythical identity. Even in city builders, having a successful solarpunk city would mean no challenges at all. Everything is in balance and you just wait for the money to come in to progress to the next technology. Current city builders have some kind of inherent imbalance or unsustainability that you have to juggle as you progress.
The last Dune video came up on my feed and I binged her videos and this is now one of my favorite channels :) I'm not really even into architecture but she makes it sooo interesting and I can listen to her tell stories all day long!
The way you described Almere - specifically the bit about the city being made of smaller sections with their own facilities and defined identities, connected by the shared infrastructure in the city centre - made me realise that... this is just how cities work in Europe. Obviously not as amazingly green and eco friendly as Almere, but that part is normal everywhere. Now that I think about it, it might be due to natural growth of cities over hundreds of years - it starts out as a group of smaller villages or towns around something like a river, and then over time they all grow and connect into one big city.
I never really put much thought into this but are USAmerican cities just huge beasts that grew out of a singular point outwards? It kind of makes sense, considering the ratio of the number of original settlers to the amount of land but frankly, I don't know enough about the history of US to speculate. Interesting thought to consider tho!
Really appreciate all the thought provoking topics, and very cool to see the behind the scenes as well at the end 🙌
Solarpunk makes me feel a sense of "of course" and "finally". As you know, these ideas have been floating around for many decades, mostly tested by small groups of people, so it's heartening to see city planners attempting to incorporate eco ideas.
I'm really glad that you included the scene of Trinity from the Matrix seeing the real sun. In my opinion, that was the most important moment in the entire series.
In some ways cyberpunk can be seen as deterioration , which is also natural, and some cyberpunk films end with new life and growth.
I would imagine the world to fundamentally become the brutalist cyberpunk with either green policy incorporated or retrofitted-in, like a blend of high-rise megalopolis mixed with poorer old housing communities finding solarpunkish ways to stay sustainable given scarcity
I have been trying to figure out how to build a self-sustainable bunker, with the where and how still unanswered. But the why was the easy to answer "society sucks so i'll build my own because i can't trust nobody"
But maybe believing in the SolarPunk idea may be what i need to do instead, thanks for the inspiration :)
Now i need to figure out how and where to get help to realize that kind of thing.
I still find it amusing that solar punk is seen as some kind of new genre of sci fi, when it very much seems to just be an updated version of the sci fi optimism that was present in pre cyber punk literature and media.
Honestly, the diversity of structure in Solarpunk and Earth Ship-like communities seems to me to be a tribute to the idea of biodiversity. Many diverse strategies can survive much, much longer than a single "monoculture" community and allows people to feel free to express their unique personality, rather than be forced into cooky cutter boxes where little to none of that shines through.
Another large part of being a Solarpunk is to use as little as possible, and reuse as much as possible. To make your own, rather than buy everything. For this to work we need to work on a fundamental philosophical shift in the way we view the world and other life forms. We can't have a hubristic view of ourselves as the center, or highest form of life.
We are just another one of the organisms within this world. We have to stop seeing he Earth as "Made for us" and start seeing it as "We are made from the Earth." To see this life not as a struggle, or a battle, but a relationship. So we can create a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with each other and our world.
This is more than "hippy dippy" thinking. To see yourself as connected to everything, and to be conscious of the impact every one your actions will have on future generations of all life is not stupid; it is wise.
What is foolish is to think that nothing you do has any impact on the future. All things are causes to a multitude of effects, and an effect of a multitude of causes. Like roots, or mycelial hyphe, or a river, or lightning, branching out and out and felting itself into a web of being.
Whatever you water grows. Whether it be a plant, a relationship, a fude, a skill, or an idea.
Peace be with you.
Yes whatever happens is the will of nature itself because we are nature and everything around us is nature too (including everything we make)
I just stumbled upon one of your videos, when I was searching for "Architects on iPad" ! That was 3 days back. Since then I watched quite a few of your videos. As a 67 year old SOHO architect, practicing with a very tiny office, in a 2 tier city in India, let me say your videos are mind boggling ! Enlightening ! Your thoughts and the way you explain about concepts, your own opinions, are, amazing ! Such mature thinking at this young age itself ! Amazing ! That's the least I can say ! God Bless !
"Being a pessimist is easier". Hear hear! Love your videos! Love your insights, they leave me inspired and eager to learn more. Thanks!
I’m definately a SolarPunk: I particularly love the melding of permaculture with architecture and the passive bioclimatic approach to conception. Some of my biggest influences: Christopher Alexander with A Pattern Language, Malcolm Wells and the « Wilderness-Based Checklist for Design and Construction », and the Austrian artist Hundertwasser with his Manifestos and famous Tree-Tenants.
Live your work ❤
Dami and Raffaele, I am amazed at the quality and "soul" of your productions. These visual essays of yours that merge Architecture themes with scientific and humanistic topics are truly works of art. Congratulations on your efforts and thank you!
Soviet microdistrict vs USA suburb
I spent my tween/teen years in Welwyn Garden City. My sister and I walked or cycled EVERYWHERE. The park, the pool, the cinema, the rollerskating rink, the library, the shops/department stores, the station, the sports centre/dry ski slopes, school.... it was a great place to grow up with different types of industry too. (We left to move closer to my then aging grandparents in London).
Hey Demi,
would love to see a video about:
"intentional cities" or "self-sustaining cities." In these cities, individuals are assigned specific jobs, have designated work hours, receive free housing, and are provided with free food as long as they contribute to the city's self-sufficiency by creating products for sale outside the community.
These communities aim to address homelessness and provide people with essential needs while offering work experience. After a certain period, residents receive a certificate indicating their five years of work and are equipped with the skills needed to transition into the outside world, where they can work anywhere. It's a concept that promotes self-sufficiency and helps individuals reintegrate into society effectively.
would be great to talk in depth about it and how AI will help manage it and its residents 's needs, health, education for them and their kids.
I would love to see your thoughts and perspective on this.
I am in the solarpunk team. Solarpunk can have skyscrapers they just have to be vertical gardens. The skyscrapers buildings can be connected like a 3 dimensional grid, with vertical/horizontal elevators aka trains that go miles or kilometers. The skycrapers have indoor parks also. Thanks for the vid btw.
Showing the existing cities that try to implement these SolarPunk characteristics actually gave me goosebumps, I have new destinations to visit by train :).
Same! I have plans to get to the Netherlands next spring. May need to add a pit stop in my itinerary :)
I find it interesting as a Dutchie that Almere was mentioned as a "solarpunk city" as i really... dont see it that way. It does have the idea of multiple cores, but to me Almere more feels like a showcase of Dutch urban planning trends from the 1970s onwards.
The oldest part, Almere Haven, is typical "Bloemkoolwijk" - Cauliflower neighborhood, with a confusing road layout, focused on small collections of housing, a structure like a cauliflower. And then all other parts are either the 90s-early 2000s "Vinex", modern low density (for Dutch standards, thats row homes and duplexes) neighborhood known for a bit of monotone esque feel to them nowadays, and then from the late 2000s to today theres a more experimental and more "let the market/municipality/urban designers decide" kind of building that does lead to far more experimental designs, and also stuff like Homeruskwartier with its a bit more free for all style.
So yeah. I wouldnt really say that Almere is a solarpunk city honestly. Its just that it is a showcase of Dutch urban planning and design fron the 1970s onwards. Stuff you can also find in other Dutch cities if you look for it, however few cities are *all* that and few have so many neighborhoods of it.
So i *would* suggest to not expect a really solarpunky city myself. But if your still curious, if your in Amsterdam its not far by train and most neighborhoods have a station (5 stations, sprinters stop at all of those, Intercitys only at Centrum)
It does get made fun of (and sometimes ridiculed) by Dutchies for lacking a "real soul" and a dead city centre, and in ways thats young city problems (esp the first one, as theres not a common culture of people whove lived their entire live in Almere yet).
Thank you for covering this. I hope to see Solarpunk become more mainstream in the future.
I don't think brutalism when I think of cyberpunk, but I do think of them when I think of dystopia. Cyberpunk is more focused on high-technology building spaces, like glass building with neon signs, LED displays, and AR overlays which can be seen only when using specialized eyewear
oh my god the visual of the sun and earth at the end gave me chills. we're so tiny, but so, so big in our minds
Solarpunk was the future that was promised. I remember being a kid and seeing fruitier aero styled ads slapped on every new piece of technology. Technology was bright skies, water pngs, and a good balance between the urban and the natural. It's sad that fruitiger aero and solar punk are not as widely accepted as it is the only form of art that provides escapic look towards the future rather than the past.
I'm doing a project on ecological architecture in university. I really wanted to include solarpunk in it so THANK YOU very much for covering this topic!
Not to mention that your channel inspired me to choose that topic in the first place.
A very lovely and impressive rendition. I love your videos and how your gradually take your videos from known to unknown. 10:25 of this video was it for me. Pure Anime act! 😀
I love your videos. I always learn something new and interesting and you always ask interesting and provoking questions. a+
The main problem with finding stuff for Solarpunk, is that it's a budding genre. Not much stuff has been made for it yet, right now it's kinda where cyberpunk was in the early 80's for cultural reference material.
yep, we just need one big movie that embraces solarpunk wholesale and it'll explode.
I think one of the fictional settings where solarpunk tends to thrive is a post-apocalyptic one, or one that is desperately fighting a near-apocalyptic natural or artificially induced phenomenon. Plenty of examples exist, but my two favorite (and recent) ones are the bleak juxtapositions between hope and despair painted by the games Arknights: Endfield and Wuthering Waves, both of which take heavy inspiration from Death Stranding in terms of geographical and architectural open-world design (some of it indirectly bleeding into the gameplay as well).
There's one more, although it might not apply since the world and narrative settings are fundamentally dystopian. The atmosphere of both the Mirror's Edge games also gives me solarpunk vibes to some extent.
It amazes me how many projects use the circular scheme, as when i was 10, I also designed a utopian country and got to that exact conlusion: concentric circles of land and rivers that connect to the sea. Time after I discovered how many designs of the Atlantis mythical land used the same circular scheme and I thought it was just a coincidence, but then I discovered about the ancient city of Baghdad and other modern city planning theories and now I guess the circular scheme is just a logical human conclusion
Hi! Landscape Architect here. I definitely believe in solarpunk as the future vision of the world, and I agree with the issues outlined in this video about the specific qualities of the movement. I think the answer lies in a combination of permaculture practices and homesteading, combined with renewable energy, significant greenery, local materials and cultural styles, and soft city urban planning, where we build around electric public transport to minimize car infrastructure and focus on smaller urban residences with large, interconnected public spaces. Is it 1:1 solarpunk? No. Is this kind of thing achievable? Yes! It is the pursuit of the vision of solarpunk as the optimistic future that we need that matters, and so long as we continue to push back against the crowded high-density cities and vehicular-centric suburbs, we will have a breakthrough and create the world we can only see in artistic imagery.
Hi, I absolutely love your videos, and have been subscribed for a while. I'm currently studying architecture at the Notre Dame School of Architecture. I genuinely hope that solar punk is closer to the reality that we get than the one we are heading to. However, I have one major gripe with Solar Punk, and that is the same issue that I have with this idea of an international Style that we see with many types of new buildings. At least from what you showed us, the issue with Solar punk is that it doesn't have a concrete universally recognizable style which makes is more appealing. However, I would argue that Solar punk shouldn't be universal, every region needs its own style, and many of the best elements for those styles are already built up in different regions. Those elements are the ones that you find in more traditional buildings. Ones built before concrete and steel became the primary building materials for modern constructions. In the one real world settlement that you showed, they built with recycled and readily available materials. Which, in my opinion is the only thing that sustainable Architecture can be built with. I've seen too many renders of some concrete building with some trees grafted to it labeled as sustainable, which they simply aren't considering the ecological damage that concrete is responsible for. So I think that in the next century, we will see a return to much more traditional building styles that move away from concrete and steel as their primary building materials, towards locally sourced, hopefully carbon free or negative, materials. I think that treating the idea of a sustainable solar based future in the same way that one looks at brutalism or the international style or cyberpunk, which are all internationally consistent styles, is not a productive way to look at solar punk. The real world reference for solar punk is found within local building traditions.
I love Dami's conceptual ironic discussions of these important and interesting design topics. She makes me feel like I'm at a table with my old grad student friends discussing how we were planning to redesign our world. Great stuff!
I have always envisioned myself lying in a big green field with my families and thats what drives me and living peacefully it's almost like I can't live in this society anymore seeing how it's moving forward, I hope oneday we get to see the beautiful era like solar punk
I love these videos, thanks for making them!
Becky Chambers is an author that I think explores the myriad ways societies can exist in a thoughtful and well written way. Chambers' "A Psalm for the Wild Built" is a solar punk novella (& Hugo award winner '22!) that I thought of while watching this video.
Amazing work! I think that even while cities have their disadvantages, having that massive array of knowledge and culture packed into a spot can really be amazing, and I always love ideas that can help cities work for people, not corporations
Who'd have guessed an architect would keep providing constant inspiration for my sci-fi writing? 😁
She's the gift that keeps on giving.