You may see images of Solarpunk architecture—sweeping biophilic shapes incorporating flora inside the structure, new building materials, and innovative technology that create sustainable, adaptive environments.
While we are caught up with substandard builds and ghost projects, it is very difficult to even think of having a home designed with the wholistic well-being of people and sustainability in mind. But in other parts of the world and in the minds of avant-garde designers, there is a significant shift to build such structures.
Solarpunk Architecture
Solarpunk is an artistic movement that emerged around the 2010s to counter the Cyberpunk design of a dystopian future found in science fiction like Mad Max, The Matrix, or Hunger Games, to name a few.
Architizer states,
Solarpunk visualizes a world detached from capitalist incentives, where humans use high tech and low tech in equal measures as tools for social and economic equality, and urban environments are designed to restore natural ecosystems threatened by climate change.
You may have seen this biophilic type of architecture if you’ve gone through or around Singapore. There’s the Rain Vortex in the Changi Airport and the Supertree Grove in Gardens by the Bay, just to mention two. Other examples are the Sponge Cities in China, which are urban planning models built to prevent floods and manage stormwater.
Solarpunk and Terra Futura
Searches led by Boomers (1946 to 1964) and Gen X (1965-1980) for “solar punk house” went up by 80%, self-sufficient garden by 55%, solar punk fashion by 115%, community spaces by 40%, and chaos gardening by 300%. With these data, Pinterest Business predicted an eco-living aesthetic called Terra Futura for 2025.
Terra Futura is a specific trend under Solarpunk that focuses on the visual design and lifestyle aspects of a sustainable and futuristic movement.
Click on this link to see more photos of Terra Futura made by Pinterest Predicts UK.
On the Side of Optimism
It feels hopeful to see that people in some pockets of the world are moving towards a more sustainable type of shelter that envisions a future where humanity and nature thrive through sustainable technology and community-based solutions.
Looking at current events today where influential people’s intentions and actions have mired the country down in survival mode, Solarpunk architecture seems to still be so far away from the Filipino reality. Our skylines are full of buildings and structures that seem to prioritize space utilization and ROI improvement instead of beauty in architecture that inspires communities and promotes people’s well-being.
While we find ways to free us from this Gordian Knot that holds us down, it may be helpful to hold on to a bullish optimism that Solarpunk architecture envisions—a clean and green future built on principles of sustainability, social justice, and collective action.
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