Is a bus shelter insignificant? Whether imagined by famous architects or discovered by chance, these 12 examples will make you change your mind.

12 surprising bus stops around the world

“At a bus stop, people wait – for the bus, for a friend, for their future or for their own destination… People see far away and give their hearts to the far away. It is a place for the fundamental act of waiting. This is how architect Sou Fujimoto sums up the role of this banal but ultimately central object in our daily lives: waiting calls for comfort, but also for design. A world tour of the most inspired creations that reinterpret, each in their own way, the concept of the bus stop.

Georgia and Kyrgyzstan

Photographer Christopher Herwig travelled over 30,000 kilometres by car, bicycle, bus and taxi through 14 countries of the former Soviet Union to discover and document extraordinary bus shelters, unexpected treasures of modern art. He has compiled these architectural UFOs into a beautiful two-volume book, Soviet Bus Stops, published by FUEL; as well as a documentary film, which will premiere in Copenhagen in a few weeks. Here is a non-exhaustive extract of his findings.

Gagra, Georgia, 2013

This amazing wave-shaped bus shelter, covered with blue and yellow mosaic in the image of an Antoni Gaudi building, is located near the Black Sea coast.

Pitsunda, Georgia, 2013

George Chakhava was deputy minister of highway construction in 1970s Georgia, but also an artist and architect. He is responsible for iconic Brutalist buildings such as the Ministry of Highway Construction building in Tbilisi (the Bank of Georgia today), and for the design of particularly creative bus stops, such as this one.

Goderdzi Pass, Georgia, 2017

This is one of the most difficult bus stops to reach, at the top of the Goderdzi Pass, 2000 metres above sea level, in Georgia. Its bird-like shape beckons to travel and, in more functional terms, provides shelter from the snow.

Goderdzi Pass, Georgia, 2017

This is one of the most difficult bus stops to reach, at the top of the Goderdzi Pass, 2000 metres above sea level, in Georgia. Its bird-like shape beckons to travel and, in more functional terms, provides shelter from the snow.

Japon

Shodoshima, Japan, 2014

This dreamy bus stop, located on the small island of Shodoshima, was designed by the Japanese architect Yo Shimada of the Tato agency. Overlooking a beautiful green valley, it looks like a set of water lilies on a pond, made of 90 steel discs. “For people waiting for a bus, these discs can be used as benches, tables or shade, depending on their needs,” explains the architect.

Shizuoka, Japon, 2014

In Shizuoka, not far from Tokyo, the Japanese studio SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE designed this bus shelter worthy of a Hayao Miyazaki film. Everyone can take shelter in it, literally, thanks to giant umbrellas. A poetic and functional interpretation of the bus stop.

Isahaya, Japan, 1990

On the Japanese island of Nagasaki, one comes across some very amusing bus shelters. Shaped like apricots, strawberries or watermelons, they brighten up the streets of Isahaya. There are 16 of them, spread along a stretch of National Road 207 in the former village of Konagai. They were built for the cultural exhibition The Journey Exposition Nagasaki in 1990 and continue to attract curious visitors.

United-Kingdom

Blackpool, England, 2007

The English architect Ian McChesney designed these Wind Shelters in collaboration with the town on the promenade of Blackpool (a coastal town in the north of England). Riding on special cushioned bearings, they rotate gently in the wind while accommodating users, protecting them from gusts of wind. “The shape was born out of the need for a weathervane to turn the structure and a deflector to protect the occupants from the wind,” says the architect.

Austria

In 2014, the small Austrian village of Krumbach invited architects from all over the world (including the famous Chilean architect Smiljan Radic) to design the ideal bus stop to replace their outdated ones. Each of them was able to give their interpretation of this everyday object, anchored in a green Austrian landscape. Here is an overview of the two most interesting variations.

Krumbach, Austria, 2014

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto sums up his amazing creation: “Since it can also overlook the beautiful surrounding landscape, I wanted it to be a place where people can enjoy the view from a higher point. Thanks to the stairs, each person can choose where to sit while waiting for the bus.“

The Norwegian studio Rintala Eggertsson Architects designed this geometrically shaped bus shelter. This construction covered with wooden shingles ingeniously combines two visual activities related to waiting for the bus: on the ground floor, a traditional bus shelter facing the road, and on the first floor, a “bubble” offering a full view of the adjacent tennis court. Something to keep you busy, while waiting sheltered from the wind.

USA

Ventura, California, 2002

The California City of Ventura’s Public Art Program, in collaboration with the Department of Public Works, commissioned a new bus shelter in 2002 for its bus station. American architect Dennis Oppenheim designed Bus Home, a concrete and metal structure that represents a bus that becomes a house. He explains: “Bus-Home is about the metamorphosis of one image into another. In this three-dimensional, pictorial equivalent of a journey, the journey is a swirling loop, a spiral. I hope this work will bring calm to young travellers, showing a flow and connection between where you come from and where you are going.“