Reimagining the Past and Shaping the Future The suffix -Punk brings to mind things like costume jewelry, excessive use of gears as decoration, and pseudo-Victorian fashion, but it’s far deeper than that. There are dozens of individual group operating under the -Punk term, with Steampunk probably being the most well known. Solarpunk is a new player in the community, with its fair share of similarities and differences from the other -Punk communities. Though Steampunk and Solarpunk share a historical era as inspiration and a similar aesthetic style, they have very different purposes. Solarpunk is an imaginative push for a brighter future, while Steampunk is only creative experimentation with the past. In it’s simplest understanding, Solarpunk is an idealistic movement pushing for real societal change, while Steampunk is a combination of science fiction and alternate history fiction. They share distinctly 19th century designs, often incorporating Victorian architecture, ideas, and themes. Solarpunk uses that basis to reconstruct the modern world, recreating the Victorian aesthetic with clean, eco-friendly technology and attitudes in hope of building a better future for humanity.
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Solarpunk advocates for a future run almost entirely on solar power, with no resources or space going to waste. Computers, cities, everything would be eco-friendly; farming practices would be integrated into architecture and technology. Steampunk, however, rewrites history as if steam power had remained the dominant energy source. Steam power revolutionized the world in the 1800s and Steampunk asks simply, What if that hadn’t changed? How would our world have evolved using steam-based technology? How would machines and infrastructure be different? Solarpunk is almost exclusively an idea for the future, while Steampunk can take place anywhere from the 19th century
Solarpunk advocates for a future run almost entirely on solar power, with no resources or space going to waste. Computers, cities, everything would be eco-friendly; farming practices would be integrated into architecture and technology. Steampunk, however, rewrites history as if steam power had remained the dominant energy source. Steam power revolutionized the world in the 1800s and Steampunk asks simply, What if that hadn’t changed? How would our world have evolved using steam-based technology? How would machines and infrastructure be different? Solarpunk is almost exclusively an idea for the future, while Steampunk can take place anywhere from the 19th century