What if the rooftops above our heads could power more than our homes – and bring clean energy and new life to the neighbourhood below?
As part of our local Co-PED activities, we screened Power Station (2025) – the story of London-based artist-activists Hilary Powell and Dan Edelstyn, who launched a grassroots campaign to turn the rooftops of their street into a community-owned solar power station. Sleeping on their roof through the dead of winter for 23 nights to raise £113,000 for solar panels, printing their own currency, releasing a pop song and planting thousands of sunflowers along the way – their story inspires the question: what if the rooftops above our own heads could power not just our homes, but the cafés, galleries and community spaces at street level too?
That’s exactly what the Bartók Quarter Urban Living Lab is exploring as one of eight European Co-PED sites: how condominium rooftops can generate solar energy that supports both residents and the cultural and commercial life on the ground floor.
After the screening at Adaptér social hub, located in the heart of the Bartók District, we spoke with local residents, tenant and others interested in our energy future about what an energy community could mean for the Bartók neighbourhood, and what role its residents – and rooftops – could play.
Because in the end, a rooftop can power more than a house – it can help bring an entire neighbourhood to life.
Huge thanks to KÉK – Contemporary Architecture Centre and our friends at Bartók District for hosting the screening, to the directors for letting us share the film, and to the Budapest Architecture Film Days for their support.
Curious to learn more about the film? Check out Power Station at power.film. If you want to see who’s on the rooftops of the Bartók Quarter, follow Co-PED as we work towards a more circular, collaborative and future-ready neighbourhood.
