Solarpunk is a literary and visual movement that origi­nated in Brazil in the early 2000s; it rejects dystopian pessimism and, instead, puts forward images of renewable-powered futures that challenge us to alter our social habits. While the name builds on the -punks of Cyberpunk and Steampunk, it resists the techno­logical deter­minism of the former and the Eurocentric imaginary of the later. It is punk in the sense that it insists on societal change at the highest levels.

“Solarpunk is a literary movement, a hashtag, a flag, and a statement of intent about the future we hope to create.”

Elvia Wilk, e-flux journal

Solarpunk entered the public eye as a short story collection, Solarpunk: Histórias Ecológicas e Fantás­ticas em um Mundo Suste­navel, published in Brazil in 2012, but quickly morphed into an online art genre. Digital artists rendered Art-Nouveau-inspired and plant-filled cities and posted them on Tumblr. This small movement started to spread, with several academic and journal­istic inves­ti­ga­tions appearing. This emerging movement pushed Ellery Studio to launch SPF in 2018 that brought together scien­tists, researchers, artists.

“[Although radical, it’s] not radically impossible. Indeed, many of the technologies and practices that solar punks draw into their imaginings already exist: solar and other renewable energy, urban agriculture, or organic architecture and design. Like sci-fi authors, solar punks remix the present to produce an alternative future.”

Dr. Jennifer Mae Hamilton, The Conver­sation