this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023
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Solarpunk

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I'm planning out a photobash (hopefully part of a set) showcasing options and possibilities for a more solarpunk world. My goal for these is for them to be a more practical and actionable view of a solarpunk society, more than just green skyscrapers or super scifi-looking places. I'm mostly setting these in a post-crumbles setting, with a focus on rebuilding in a more thoughtful and inclusive way. I want to try to illustrate solarpunk concepts and themes directly. 

I've done a co-op salvaging technology for reuse, and a high speed railway, and I'd like to take a shot at showing the places where people live next - just a street at a time, so not every scene will check every box, but I'd very much like to source ideas to include while I'm still planning layouts.

I've got a few different elements I'd like to include already (again maybe not all in one scene):

  • More colorful buildings, emphasizing buildings as a canvas for art from graffiti to commissioned murals
  • Lots and lots of trees. I like the idea of a street/path layout that provides each building with some kind of vehicle access (for firetrucks and ambulances and handicapped people, along with day-to-day things like moving trucks, large items deliveries, construction vehicles) while converting many roads to forested bike and pedestrian paths. At the very least, more tree-lined streets
  • Streetcars/streetcar cables overhead (emphasizing public transit)
  • options for a Third Place, where people can be outside home or work without having to be customers or tresspassers (I really don't have any of these yet)
  • Alternate uses of existing structures and resources; I want to avoid the feeling of a scratch-built or utopian future. I'm currently working on a parking garage converted to living space with colorful facades between the concrete, and a farm, park, or forest (I haven't decided yet) on the roof
  • The tech salvage co-op from last time delivering a laptop or running wires, building a meshnet
  • Green energy, solar and wind in realistic locations (so not much wind in the cityscapes, I suspect) especially in a setting where infrastructure has been neglected and rebuilt
  • Alternatives to corporations, and an emphasis on society being run by and for regular people
  • Alternatives to cars; bicycles, rickshaws (pedal-powered and electric), 
  • Fruit trees, public gardens

If you have any additional elements, ideas for scenes/combos of elements, or specific ways you think things should be shown, and especially practical considerations, please let me know. It's a lot easier to work those in while I'm planning rather than trying to work on it once layers are all tangled and perspectived.

It's been awhile since I did proper full colors and textures photobashes, and I'm still working on the more loose/casual style, but I'm getting a bit better as I go, I'm happy to take ideas.

Also, I'd also like to do some more non-city scenes, rewilding, smaller communities linked by public transit, but don't have any specifics yet.

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[–] JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thank you! This is great information and I think I've got a couple ideas for where to use it! I really appreciate the details and visual references.

I love the DIY and recycled design of the algae farm you gave as an example, I think I can definitely add that and similar designs to scenes. I've also been gathering ideas for a scene of a dense little village for a more rural scene, and I think a larger setup could look good there. Same for in a scene of a homestead, combined with the solar cooker cookout.

I also really like the giant solar cooker junkyard idea. I have a bit of an idea in mind for a zoomed out scene with a junkyard surrounding the giant bright reflectors, and maybe a salvage crew towing a car in through the gates. I'll see if I can work the mirror polishing windmill into a workshop scene if I do one, or perhaps onsite at the junkyard.

[–] RoboGroMo@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago

oh nice that sounds really cool, i'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!