https://www. artstation.com/artwork/QXza14
I came across this art posted to Mastodon and wanted to share it here. I really dig this one - it looks futuristic but reasonable, more practical than a lot of depictions of solarpunk buildings I've seen which often remind me of the kind of elaborate, temporary structures countries put up for the Olympics or to showcase how modern they are.
I always love the kludged-together mix of old and new, it's core to some of my favorite cyberpunk scenes, but I think it should fit solarpunk even better since it aligns with avoiding waste and reusing what's already here.
I like how it fits both genres thematically. In cyberpunk, it's part of the rejection of the idea that technology can fix everything. Even in a future where they build lots of Jetsons-looking skyscrapers, someone's getting left out, and the stories are most interested in those people. The future being distributed inequally helps them discuss wealth inequality, exploitation of workers, and other themes core to the genre.
In solarpunk, I think that mixing of tech and construction could/should be aspirational. Older buildings might have used too much concrete, or lots of synthetic materials, but they're here now, and it's practical to use what we have and avoid waste where possible. Sort of emphasizing reuse in art, rather than depicting a scratch-built future. In addition, it's realistic; people upgrade the places they live. They might love the place, or just not have the resources to move or replace it. And one of my favorite things about solarpunk is that it's not utopian but optimistic. I'll keep an eye out for more like this.
Basing the lack of accessibility on the fact that something is fictitious is actually a pretty lame excuse. If we can't be inclusive in fiction, where it comes down to adding a sentence or the stoke of a brush, how could we even try to make reality inclusive, the solution being so much more complex and time-consuming than that?