The solarpunk art movement: Cyberpunk’s joyful counterpart

The term ‘solarpunk’ may mean a great deal of different things to different people: to some, it suggests a consumerist, aesthetic-obsessed Pinterest board filled with solar panels and meadows. To others, it may be a painting or drawing inspired by Art Nouveau visuals, or quite simply, a hand-sewn, sustainably sourced shirt. In the modern day, these all make up the essence of the solarpunk movement.

Solarpunk imagines an optimistic, utopian vision of the future

Solarpunk today exists as a multi-layered movement: at once an artistic, architectural, and literary genre, as well as a way of philosophical, political, and social thinking. In contrast to cyberpunk, its gritty, dystopian, yet more well-known equivalent, which imagines a high-tech, urbanised, and pessimistic future, solarpunk imagines an optimistic, utopian vision of the future. Such works are often characterised by advanced tech, but used in tandem with nature, not taking over and erasing it as in cyberpunk worlds. Instead of sprawling cityscapes, solarpunk embraces images of degrowth – collectivism instead of post-capitalist exploitation, and inspiration drawn from natural materials, shapes, and colours, rather than the neon and concrete palette of cyberpunk. YouTuber Andrew Sage, also known as Andrewism or Saint Andrew, offers a short explanation of the movement on his second channel, Extra Andrewism.

Sage is an adherent to solarpunk in all its forms, art as well as philosophy. His yearly solarpunk collaborative art projects provide, in the true spirit of solarpunk’s collectivist ideals, a community-sourced showcase of what solarpunk art can be. The 2025 edition ranges from community-rich cityscapes full of natural earth tones and joy, to landscapes dotted with wind farms, from imagined flyers in a solarpunk community to the insides of what public libraries could become in such a future.

Architect Vincent Callebaut, while not defining himself as a solarpunk, works in a similar way to many who embrace the movement. His work incorporates greenery, bioclimatic rules, and renewable energy, coining his approach as the ‘Archibiotect’. This connection to natural forms in solarpunk originated, however, with some of its earliest conceptions and the Art Nouveau style.

The term ‘solarpunk’ originates from a 2008 blog post from Republic of the Bees, titled ‘From Steampunk to Solarpunk’. This post suggests an adaptation of the sci-fi/fantasy genre steampunk, which explores alternate worlds and futures where steam technology and Victorian aesthetics dominate. This blending of modern and old inspired solarpunk, imagining a world where the renewable energy sources of wind and solar dominate, leading to a return to, for example, sailing boats, as the post begins. This post acknowledges the very real political fights that are integral to solarpunk, namely that those against fossil fuel-based economies and the political corruption that exists in their defence.

It is clear in these seminal works of solarpunk that the political movement towards a green, sustainable future of energy and technology is essential to the art itself, and the two cannot be separated

The visual identity of solarpunk is, however, often credited in part to Tumblr user missolivialouise, beginning with her 2014 concept art of a solarpunk aesthetic. Her art is “based on updated Art Nouveau, Victorian and Edwardian aesthetics, combined with a green and renewable energy movement”. The contributions of Afrofuturism and Amazofuturism are also critical in the formation of the genre’s style, as well as its anti-imperial, decolonial political groundings. As such, it is clear in these seminal works of solarpunk that the political movement towards a green, sustainable future of energy and technology is essential to the art itself, and the two cannot be separated.

As such, solarpunk creators are often also involved in leftist, anti-capitalist, decolonial, and anarchist movements as well. A primary example is, once again, Andrew Sage, who creates videos about these sides of solarpunk, such as his 2025 video ‘Does Anarchy Need Leaders?’. He engages with solarpunk as an artist as well as an activist. In 2014, however, Adam Flynn posted his ‘Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto’, codifying the anti-establishment drive, but also its opposition to cyberpunk’s depressive nihilism. He also clarifies the -punk suffix, explaining that it is not there to be trendy, or relate it to cyberpunk, but because of the resistance to an oppressive system that characterises the genre. Later, ‘A Solarpunk Manifesto’ was published on the website Regenerative Design. This manifesto reiterates the visual aesthetics of Flynn’s post, particularly the 1800s influence stemming from the Republic of the Bees, as well as non-Western jugaad innovation. Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli is also cited as an inspiration, a more mainstream, unofficial aspect of solarpunk that has seen an ironic surge in attention from the Studio Ghibli AI trend.

Many old works, such as Ursula K. Le Guin’s ‘The Dispossessed’, can be seen as aligning with solarpunk

The place of AI in solarpunk art and a solarpunk future is still debated within the movement. A Reddit thread suggests that there is no clear answer: on the one hand, the energy demands of generative AI outstrip the principle of scaling need to respect harmonious living with the Earth. At the same time, some visions of solarpunk include the sort of high-tech, quality-of-life improvements that the use of AI in medical fields to help treat cancer would fall under.

The solarpunk genre is still growing and still forming as an established movement. Many old works, such as Ursula K. Le Guin’s ‘The Dispossessed’, can be seen as aligning with solarpunk, and new works continue to come out of communities like that of Andrew Sage. Given time, this optimistic vision of a peaceful, sustainable, post-capitalist utopia could grow in strength, and maybe, one day, come to fruition.