
Bus stops of former Soviet republics - Thevet
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/sep/02/soviet-superpower-why-russia-has-the-worlds-most-beautiful-bus-stops/
======
sytelus
Russian metro train stations are also extremely gorgeous. They are all done
differently with intricate designs, sometimes making passengers feel as if
they are passing through a palace. There was no advertisements anywhere. But
then when you look at all the communist symbols, slogans and architecture
heavily embedded in design, you realize that the whole thing itself is a
massive advertisement for the political system. Not surprisingly it was all
sponsored by Stalin because he wanted to make them as people's place. Anyhow,
those stations sets the example of how beautiful these transportation spaces
could be. Any tourists to Moscow are definitely recommended to visit its best
train stations (Eyewitness guide has a list).

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x0x0
In Moscow, the subway stations are gorgeous. Most of them are unique pieces of
architecture and art, clean, and well maintained. There are coffee table books
of high resolution pictures that are worth seeing; here is an online sample of
a handful of stations [1]. Contrast this to nyc, where the subway is both
filthy and looks like a place that, if I didn't know it was a subway station,
I would not be willing to enter unless in a large group.

If you're there, it's well worth spending an afternoon visiting the stations.

[1] [http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/05/art-and-decor-of-
moscow...](http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/05/art-and-decor-of-moscow-metro-
stations.html)

~~~
jes
I agree that the subway stations are gorgeous. I think it's also worth
reflecting on the means by which public works were built in the former Soviet
Union. [1]

[1] [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3110866/This-
theatre...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3110866/This-theatre-
built-blood-bones-prisoners-Haunting-message-painted-metal-sheet-ceiling-
Soviet-era-building-hopes-finds-lives-world-no-slavery.html)

~~~
eps
Pray tell which Moscow subway stations where built by Gulag prisoners.

~~~
jes
"With the new emphasis on Gulag as the means of concentrating cheap labor, new
camps were then constructed throughout the Soviet sphere of influence,
wherever the economic task at hand dictated their existence (or was designed
specifically to avail itself of them, such as the White Sea-Baltic Canal or
the Baikal Amur Mainline), including facilities in big cities — parts of the
famous Moscow Metro and the Moscow State University new campus were built by
forced labor. Many more projects during the rapid industrialization of the
1930s, war-time and post-war periods were fulfilled on the backs of convicts.
The activity of Gulag camps spanned a wide cross-section of Soviet industry."
[1]

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag)

~~~
eps
That's a vague and unsourced statement.

If you try and dig around a bit, there is no connection between construction
of Moscow metro and the Gulag system. None whatsoever. Construction had its
share of issues, most notably with work safety, but forced labor wasn't a part
of it.

~~~
jes
With respect, the facts are against you:

"It is easy to misjudge the Gulag’s contribution because its more lasting
monuments—the Moscow metro, the Moscow University, and the Norilsk Nickel
Combinat—are what remain. Forgotten are the “roads to nowhere,” long fallen
into the decay that is not unique to Gulag projects. The countries of the
former Soviet Union are cemeteries of failed construction projects, which
would never have been started if project analysis had not been distorted by
the absence of market pricing in the national economy and by the country’s
isolation from international markets. Many such projects came into being
merely because of fleeting political considerations." [1]

[1]
[http://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/...](http://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/0817939423_189.pdf)

Typing "moscow metro forced labor" into Google returned the PDF cited above as
the second entry in the search results that were returned.

Perhaps you could provide a source for your claim that there is no connection
between the construction of the Moscow Metro and the Gulag system?

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pavel_lishin
> _The project began in 2002, when Herwig decided to cycle from London to
> Stockholm, to live with his girlfriend. “Taking a bike on Ryanair,” he
> explains, “would have cost four times the price of a seat.” As he set off,
> he gave himself a challenge: to photograph something interesting every hour
> of the way. A particular roadside feature began to catch his eye, and so
> began an obsessive quest. “It wasn’t until I got into the Baltic countries,”
> he says, “that they jumped out at me. Within the first 50km of Lithuania, I
> noticed these peculiar bus stops everywhere.”_

He took a hell of a detour to get there.

~~~
tinco
Perhaps the ferry from Tallin was cheaper than staying in a hotel in
Copenhagen.

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amelius
I know why: because they have no advertisements on them :)

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ommunist
Well, some British bus stops may be not that beautiful, but are well furnished
and equipped with TVs [http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/6564-bus-shelter-joins-
online...](http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/6564-bus-shelter-joins-online-
greats)

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ant6n
It's odd how these stops seem to be in the middle of nowhere; who are they
serving?

One also notes that while some of them are pretty to look at, most of them
would actually be very uncomfortable to set in; pretty but useless. It's
ironic, in a way, how they say that the design of these was done with more
autonomy from the central planners; but then these stops are planned like from
far away by somebody who'd never wait at any of these stops.

~~~
dzhiurgis
They were built when personal transportation wasn't an option, so I assume
they were used (although not by that many people).

~~~
userulluipeste
Actually, the bus stations were (and still are) used by a lot of people! Car
owning in USSR was nowhere near the levels of western countries and the
majority of people relied on public transportation. The article has a
reference to Jonathan Meades' photobook in which there is a photo of the bus
station in one of the Republic of Moldova villages called Șipoteni¹. They
"seem to be in the middle of nowhere" indeed, because the main roads/routes
don't always come into the middle of the villages but at the right time these
stations are full of people that may wait up to a half an hour there. It was
just natural for the authorities to try to exceed themselves in the eyes of
the villagers as there aren't many opportunities for them to do so! (Villagers
didn't use to need much from the system.)

¹ [http://fuel-
design.com/media/uploads/thumbs/uploads/homepage...](http://fuel-
design.com/media/uploads/thumbs/uploads/homepage/138-139_jpg_940x376_q95.jpg)

------
contingencies
On the same theme, check out the exhibition[1] of Magnum photographer Harry
Gruyaert that is about to open in London. It includes quite a few bus stop
images and indeed leads with one. I saw it in Paris a few months ago, where it
featured at both the Magnum agency's own gallery[2] and the Maison Européenne
de la Photographie.[3]

[1]
[http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=24P...](http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=24PV7CD2QD2&mc_cid=c0070fec02&mc_eid=e0768ff1c5)

[2] [http://www.parisphoto.com/paris/exhibitors/magnum-
gallery](http://www.parisphoto.com/paris/exhibitors/magnum-gallery)

[3] [http://www.mep-fr.org/english/](http://www.mep-fr.org/english/)

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theoh
Similar idea to a well-known project in Armenia by Ursula Shulz-Dornburg:
[http://www.schulz-dornburg.info/english/Werke/Armenien-
Busha...](http://www.schulz-dornburg.info/english/Werke/Armenien-
Bushaltestellen/)

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anthonybsd
>why Russia has the world's most beautiful bus stops

Only a single photograph in the article was shot in Russia, Siberia one in
extended gallery. Let's see: Abkhazia (Georgia), Kazakhstan, Estonia, Armenia,
Belarus, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan. This kind of pisses me off.

~~~
lisivka
One of most impressive bus stop in Crimea[0] was destroyed almost immediately
after occupation of Crimea[1], so it may explain why it is so few good bus
stops in Russia.

0:
[http://siver.com.ua/_nw/143/26589030.jpg](http://siver.com.ua/_nw/143/26589030.jpg)

1:
[http://siver.com.ua/_nw/143/87966600.jpg](http://siver.com.ua/_nw/143/87966600.jpg)

2:
[http://espreso.tv/uploads/data/news/2014/03_2/2014-03-31-16-...](http://espreso.tv/uploads/data/news/2014/03_2/2014-03-31-16-40-54-10972.jpg)

3:
[http://espreso.tv/uploads/data/news/2014/03_2/2014-03-31-16-...](http://espreso.tv/uploads/data/news/2014/03_2/2014-03-31-16-40-53-32842.jpg)

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Mz
_It seems the “bus pavilions”, as they were respectably known, provided a much
needed outlet for creative energy, which was otherwise stifled._

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bcheung
You should see the metros. Gorgeous!

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kozak
Neither Abkhazia nor Kazakhstan nor Estonia nor Kyrgyzstan is Russia.

~~~
harryjo
Only the headline says "Russia". The story does not. Headlines are awful; I
wish HN would rewrite them more accurately and less clickbaity. (See also: the
"Why" clickbait)

~~~
vacri
HN uses the article title for the most part. And the article itself is very
clearly talking about the Soviet era, where "Russia" meant both the specific
country Russia and the USSR as a whole. Just as how in the 19th century,
"England" meant the specific country England and also Great Britain/British
Empire.

Neither the photos nor the copy suggest the topic is modern Russia.

~~~
dang
> _HN uses the article title for the most part_

Yes, but with explicit exceptions for misleading titles and linkbait (see
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)),
both of which were the case here. So harryjo was right and we've changed the
title. If anyone wants to suggest a better one, we can change it again.

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hellbanner
Lot of Russia stories on the front page lately

