This is a collection of digital art that captures the vision of a solarpunk Spain, along with images of a futuristic Al-Andalus from an alternative timeline in which the Moors were never thrown out.

Back in 2022, I visited Madrid, along with Southern Spain, and took hundreds of photos of Moorish architecture, Moorish gardens, picturesque mountain side villages, Granada, and Seville. In this collection of digital art, I used my photos of Spain and enhanced them with Dream Studio, an AI art device. The collection below represents my experiment of enhancing pre-existing art with AI.

SOLARPUNK SPAIN

WHAT IS SOLARPUNK?

Solarpunk is a literary and artistic movement that envisions and works toward actualizing a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community. The artistic genre uses the Art Nouveau style. The aesthetic also makes heavy use of bright colors and is often inspired by Studio Ghibli movies, particularly Castle in the Sky and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

WORLDBUILDING A SOLARPUNK SPAIN

In a solarpunk story, where renewable energy and sustainable practices shape the world, Southern Spain emerges as an ideal location due to its naturally sunny landscape. Vast solar farms can stretch across the picturesque plains, generating clean and limitless energy to power the cities and communities. This immense solar potential would allow Southern Spain to become a shining example of self-sufficiency and reduced carbon footprint.

The sunny landscape of Southern Spain offers an opportunity for the integration of solar energy into everyday life. Buildings can incorporate advanced solar panels seamlessly into their design, harnessing the sun’s energy for electricity and heating needs. Entire communities can adopt solar-powered infrastructure, including streetlights, public transportation, and charging stations for electric vehicles. The vibrant, sun-drenched streets of Southern Spain can become a hub of clean energy utilization, showcasing a future where sustainable technologies harmonize with the environment.

Southern Spain’s landscape can also inspire innovative agricultural practices. With the right approach, the region can leverage its abundant sunlight to promote sustainable farming techniques. Vertical farms and greenhouses equipped with solar panels can thrive, providing locally grown produce and reducing the need for long-distance transportation. These sustainable agricultural practices would not only contribute to food security but also preserve the region’s natural beauty and biodiversity.

SEVILLE

ANTEQUERA

PARQUE RETIRO AND MADRID

GARDENS

SKYLINES OF MOUNTAINOUS, SOUTHERN SPANISH TOWNS

FASHION

AL-ANDALUS 2077

I used photos of the Alhambra along with Spanish mosques to produce the pictures above. The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture.

ACTUAL HISTORY OF AL-ANDALUS

Al-Andalus was the Muslim ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. It was a center of learning and philosophy in the medieval world. The city of Córdoba, the second largest in Europe, became one of the leading cultural and economic centers throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and the Islamic world. Achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus, including major advances in trigonometry (Jabir ibn Aflah), astronomy (Al-Zarqali), surgery (Al-Zahrawi), pharmacology (Ibn Zuhr), and agronomy (Ibn Bassal and Abū l-Khayr al-Ishbīlī). Al-Andalus became a major educational center for Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as a conduit for cultural and scientific exchange between the Islamic and Christian worlds.

It was also the home of Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 AD), a scholar, Sufi mystic, and poet who is still extremely influential in Islamic thought and philosophy today.

Ultimately the Christian kingdoms in the North overpowered the Muslims states in the South. Between 1492-1610 massive numbers of Jews and Muslims were expelled from Spain.

ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF AL-ANDALUS

In an alternative history of Al-Andalus, the Moors were not conquered and driven out. Instead the spirit of knowledge, spirituality, sufi mysticism and philosophy lived on. And once the people of Al-Andalus acquired renewable energy technology in the 21st century, they created a sustainable, post scarcity society where the people advanced beyond the Capitalist grind to create a utopia. In late 21st century, the people spend their days focusing on knowledge, art, culture, spiritual advancement, sufi mysticism, and living in peace with the Earth. They are inspired by the Quran’s description of sumptuous gardens in paradise, along with the command in the Quran not to walk too heavily upon the Earth (17:37).

MISCELLANEOUS