#solarpunkworld

When Solarpunk was making it's start, one of the suggestions for it's aesthetic was art nouveau, so I thought I would explain the style a bit in case it interests you.

Art nouveau is a nature-inspired style that is a colorful and curvy rebellion.

"Art Nouveau was inspired by all the fluid forms of nature." Robert Couturie

As well as having a nature inspiration, it also has a splash of "going against the norms of society."

Fairly popular between 1890 and 1910, art nouveau was a rebellion against architects like Adolf Loos, who were promoting the pale and blocky designs that are common today.

For example, here is one of Adolf Loos(modernist, 1912, left) designs next to one by Louis Majorelle(art neuveau, 1902, right). I tried to pick two buildings of similar color so you can see the design differences easier.

Art nouveau also ended up inspiring environmentalist architects, such as Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Swap If you swap something with someone, you give it to them and receive a different thing in exchange. Collins

Many people today are focused on being hyper-independent; this, however, is not how life has always been for everyone.

Have you ever heard of the term "barn raising?" Barn raisings (aka a raising bee) was when a whole community — especially in 18th-19th century North America — would get together to build a barn or other structure. With so many hands at the ready, they could build an entire barn in a day.

No one would be paid for their work, and the whole community was expected to help. Often, finishing would be celebrated with a feast and dance.

The idea of this is that you help your neighbor with the knowledge that you may need that help in the future.

In a world where people work more hours and have less time off than a medieval peasant did, we need community more than ever. Instead of taking on every task yourself, you lean on a community to take on some of the load. Here are some examples of how some people are working on this:

🌱 Seeds and Seedling Swaps 🌱

Some communities organize seed swaps, where you have a gathering for people to exchange seeds. This is a great way to swap something you have a lot of for something you have never tried before.

This system is particularly helpful for people who seed save from the previous harvest.

Can't go with the community option? There are online seed exchanges as well.

Note: in some places, this is illegal. For example, in some of the USA states, patents are held on the seeds themselves. As well as that, there are also laws "intended to protect farmers" from weeds. Some people host these events anyways, while lobbying their local governments to make changes.

🍅 Harvest Exchanges / Crop Swaps / Food Swaps 🍅

While seed swaps tend to happen before the growing season, harvest exchanges happen during harvest times. By then, you will hopefully have produce of some kind from your garden, and if you have extra, you can exchange it with the produce of someone else. For example, if you grow tomatoes, you could leave with some carrots and apples.

This does not have to be on a large scale, either. You could set up a plan with friends where you each grow something different, then plan to swap at the end of the season.

There are also online options for this as well.

Some of these also expand into finished goods; such as baked food, canned foods, and so on. These are called "Community Food Swaps." There is are online directories for these.

👚Clothing Swaps 👚

I hope you are getting the idea by now, but just in case, people gather, and exchange clothes that no longer fit or no longer match their style, for clothes they do need.

Putting it simply, the events have tables (organized by clothing type and size) for you to put your clothing onto. You can go to any table, and grab the clothes you need.

If there are any clothes not claimed by the end of the event, they can be donated.

🧠 Knowledge Swaps 🧠

If you have a skill of some kind, you may be able to swap it for the knowledge someone has on a different subject. For example, if you know how to fix jewelry, that might be worth trading for someone who knows how to mend clothing.

For these, you literally exchange the skills by teaching the other person. Any skill you have, even holding chopsticks properly, could very well be a skill someone wants to learn, so do not doubt yourself.

There are online versions of this as well.

🛠 Work Swaps 🛠

Have you seen the beautiful living root bridges in Meghalaya, India?

Their construction is a lesson in patience as the roots are gradually encouraged to grow in the supportive shape. They need regular care, but grow stronger with age.

"Once a bamboo structure has been stretched across the river, the roots of the tree, usually the rubber tree (Ficus elastica), are teased and manipulated to become entwined with the bamboo until it becomes a strong mesh. The roots are allowed to grow gradually and strengthen over time. In the initial stages, only about 15-20 people can cross the bridge in a day. Much later, it can be as many as 50 or more, although it can take up to two decades for a living roots bridge to be finished." The Guardian

Once done, the bridges can have a lifespan of several hundred years; far outliving the original creators of them.

It is unknown when this tradition started, but they were written about in 1844, so it would be far earlier than that.

Before the invention of cars, cities were more commonly built for people on foot in mind. If cities were designed with pedestrians in mind again, there would be less need for transportation.

Rethink Businesses

With how cities are designed now, some homes are over a half-hour drive from the nearest grocery story. That is not walkable for many with a weeks worth of groceries in tow, and certainly was not the norm historically. In fact, it used to be common for every neighborhood to have some sort of gathering spot, even if it was just a pub.

So, how did we get here? It happens because of spaces being zoned for commercial or residential use only. This divide isolates all businesses into one spot, and all homes into another.

Instead, imagine if developers had to include shopping options within walking or biking distance to every home they build; that is a huge step towards a more pedestrian-friendly future.

There are two historic ways this used to be done more often than it is today:

Ground-Floor Businesses. Since as far back as the middle-ages, buildings had buisnesses on the ground floor, and apartments(AKA flats) on top of them. This method saves valuable city space, and gives people the option of working closer to home.

Shopping Malls (AKA shopping centres/arcades). A favorite of the Victorian wealthy, and one you'll likely know. Once again, instead of having one business isolated, malls save city space and gives indoor shopping options to avoid bad weather.

Image 1: York Shambles(1886). Image 2: The interior of the Crystal Palace(1851)

For an example of what a mall might look like for a Solarpunk world, the aesthetic of Changi Airport (Singapore) might be inspiring for you.

Image 1. Image 2. Image 3.

Pedestrians:

Instead of small paths crammed against loud traffic-filled roads, you could have greenery-covered walkways. Instead of breathing in pollution, you could be smelling flowers and hearing birds sing. Basically, it would be creating paths people would actually want to walk on.

Art by 六七質

One common solarpunk feature is to build up. That means several layers of buildings with bridges connecting it all, but not in a gloomy Quarry Bay 'Monster Building' style like in Hong Kong. Instead, images often have the buildings get smaller the taller they go up. That way, more light reaches the bottom levels, so even the lowest level isn't in complete darkness. They also give ample space on each level for gardens, and warm lighting and colors.

Building up rather than out stops urban spread, which is a common reason for deforestation and farmer relocation. The difference is, however, that instead of building upwards in a gloomy style, you are building up with sunlight, greenery, and maybe even yards in mind.