Solar Guerrilla: Constructive Responses to Climate Change

Ongoing use of fossil fuels, the development of industrial zones in city centers, and even our growing reliance on air conditioners have led to extreme climate swings. Now an urgent public concern, global warming alarms ever more people—and yet most of them still hesitate to identify a workable plan of action. Approaching the problem head-on, Solar Guerilla highlights a number of programs, architects, and companies that are already active in such cities as Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tel Aviv.

In a series of case studies, this book focuses on efficient strategies implemented at the local level, where collaboration within communities may be the key to effectively combating environmental damage. As companies like China’s Turenscape and Israel’s Electreon thrive alongside programs such as Chicago’s Third Nature approach to its famous riverwalk, the local efforts begin to yield global results. As Solar Guerilla demonstrates, these and other initiatives may be the best way to counter the emotional fatigue and physical disasters that currently plague us in our all-too-rapidly-changing urban environment.
 

Maya Vinitsky is associate curator for architecture and design at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and a senior lecturer for industrial design at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. She is the author of 3.5 Square Meters: Constructive Responses to Natural Disasters, also published by Hirmer.