This real solarpunk tower is art and power
Plus solarpunking fashion, urban fruit forest love and more in our latest roundup of solarpunky stuff
A solarpunk retrofitted building is so epic it has ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s because it’s got the world’s largest solar mural on its side. The artwork covering the Sunrise Building in Edmonton, Canada, incorporates solar panels providing clean energy and saving money for the residents.
The solarpunk aspects of this project don’t stop there. According to Nice News, the 1970s block required extensive improvements to make it liveable for renters today. Rather than tearing it down, the real estate investment trust Avenue Living partnered with the Mitrex solar panel company to gave it a green renovation. Repurposing and augmenting what we’ve already got rather than demolishing and building from scratch is very much the Rooted shade of solarpunk we favour at SolarPunk Stories.
Indigenous artist Lance Cardinal worked with local artists to create the 85-foot-tall mural “The Land We Share”. In this Instagram video he explains how it celebrates the First Nations and Chinese heritage of people living in that part of Edmonton. The mural shows 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac living in harmony with the seven animals that symbolise the Cree sacred grandfather teachings. Cardinal says,
“The different teachings and ideals represented by these 19 animals help us see the world in a better way. To be respectful of each other and to understand each other’s differences and of course to take care of Mother Earth.”
We’d love to see more solar murals like this across our cities in towns in the future. What do you think of The Sunrise Building and The Land We Share mural? Which buildings would you like to see transformed with public, even solar art? Let us know in the comments below.
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Solarpunk Round-up
How To Start Your Solarpunk Fashion Wardrobe: Making Solarpunk Fashion A Reality - The Future Of Clothes
SOLARPUNK cities: Singapore - SOLARPUNK cities
SolarPunk Is The Future We Actually Want - KINGxNEPTUNE
2025 buzzwords: Solarpunk and Agentic AI. What do they mean? - CGTN Europe
The Case for Solarpunk - SolarpunkAlana
Romania Hits 94% Recycling After Launching Largest Return Plan in the World - Good News Network
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See you in the sunshine,
Alex Holland
Founder, SolarPunk Stories