The last SP Sidmouth post took us to visions of Strasbourg – suggesting these could also be visions for Sidmouth:
Is solarpunk ‘post-growth’? – Sidmouth Solarpunk
Welcome to the world of Luc Schuiten:
Schuiten’s designs, which share much with Art Nouveau, imagine a brighter future marked by sustainability, peace, and prosperity rather than the overwrought consumerism, greed, and plundering of natural resources that are the hallmarks of industrialization. It acknowledges the current model is no longer feasible, but rather than offering up mere pessimism, Schuiten’s work, like solarpunk, shows us a way forward. There is a graceful sunniness to it, both literally and figuratively, that solarpunk—and Art Nouveau—also share.
Solarpunk’s Brave and Beautiful New World – Enchanted Living Magazine
Welcome to his imaginarium – and more visions of rus in urbe:
Imagine a world in which nature is intertwined with the industrial: giant lotus flowers replace concrete skyscrapers; an urban forest forms a city constantly in shift through a tree’s life cycle. This is the imaginarium of Belgian architect Luc Schuiten. To discover his work is to fall under the spell of a colourful cosmos, where architectural blueprints are swapped for visionary storyboards that invite the viewer to dive into his utopian dreamscape…
On the climate front, his biometric model shows the ever-changing metropolis of Shanghai becoming less and less polluted each year thanks to biotechnology. In Schuiten’s home city of Brussels, he promotes a return to the past, where concrete fades to streams and cobblestones to valleys…
Perhaps you might have also picked up on one of the more discreet but omnipresent characteristics of Schuiten’s work (and thus the Solarpunk aesthetic), which is his undeniable appreciation for Art Nouveau. It’s a perfect match if you think about it. “Art Nouveau is all about incorporating organic designs,” says Rosie Albrecht, editor of the solarpunk zine Optopia. “There’s nothing artificial about it. It’s a colorful aesthetic ripe with flowers, vines, branches, reeds, and so on,” she told Enchanted Living Magazine. “Even its abstract forms tend to have soft, curving lines. It’s an aesthetic that strays away from sharp corners and straight edges, which is a clear marker of human artificiality.”
Inside the Imaginarium of a Solarpunk Architect
He is everywhere it seems:
Solarpunk: Visions of a just, nature-positive world
What Is Solarpunk Architecture and How Does It Fit Into the Built Future?