SolarPunk Cities: Our Last Hope?

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I'm Dami, a licensed Architect living in Vancouver, BC. I make videos about architecture, career, and creativity.

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A NOLLISTUDIO/NOLLIMEDIA Production

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:

[DamiLeeArch]

Don't forget to share this video to spread the word about SolarPunk!

[uh]

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.

[someperson]

I absolutely LOVE these video essays about these dystopian and utopian architecture styles, design and culture from this channel

[beingWantable]

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!

[DaKussh]

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.

[alexandermoody]

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.

[zanettilla]

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"

[AnnikaVictoria]

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

[moto_ronto]

Thanks! Definitely on the Solar Punk side. I remember going back to (art) school after years working as an engineer. One day, I blurted "you gotta be an optimist!" And I remember my artist colleagues looking at me angrily and saying "that BS!" And I can understand their position--- most art, good art at any rate, is based on a critical position, pointing out what isn't working. Hence the natural artistic appeal of Cyber Punk. Optimism, as you say, is harder. It's what we pay therapists a lot of money to help us attain. But I think of it as embracing life itself. Although part of us might hate it, we need to be optimists to thrive.

[erianpena]

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)

[masterandexpert]

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.

[andrealesic]

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.

[joshua-wexr]

Cyberpunk was a warning, not an aspiration. - Mike Pondsmith

[kellybraille]

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. 🤗💕

[airquarius]

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.

[partyjesus]

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

[CitizenScientst]

Dami you are truly more than “just an architect.” You’re an artist, a communicator, an educator. Your videos literally help me focus, they’re my break from constantly doom scrolling so I can then focus on more serious work. They refresh and reset my mind, I even rediscovered my love for architecture. I feel elevated in every aspect as a professional by using you as an example of what I could be like with the right kind of focus.

[quincypurcell]

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!

[Boopah]

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.

[nikeyy]

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.