
A Tiny Austrian Town Has the Coolest Bus Shelters (2014) - CaliforniaKarl
https://www.citylab.com/design/2014/05/a-tiny-austrian-town-has-coolest-bus-shelters-weve-ever-seen/371078
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lb1lf
Here's one of my favourites[1] - in Bjørnevatn, (very) close to Norway's
border with Russia on some 70 degrees of latitude.

It is a shovel from a heavy excavator used in a nearby mine; offers protection
from the elements as well as anything except all-out nuclear war. Weighs in at
18,000kg/40,000lbs.

[1] [https://www.ifinnmark.no/ost-finnmark/norges-toffeste-
bussku...](https://www.ifinnmark.no/ost-finnmark/norges-toffeste-
busskur/s/1-49-7023005)

~~~
CapitalistCartr
If the burst is not from the front, you'll be fine up to an overpressure of
around 10psi, at which point the anchors will probably fail.

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cyberferret
Some of these may be really arty, but IMO a functional bus shelter need to
have:

* Protection from weather (both sun and rain)

* Protection from wind

* Some sort of privacy or seclusion area for women or children who have to wait alone

* Comfortable seating for long waits

* Space to put your bags or shopping without having to have them on the ground.

* Provide a clear view of approaching buses

Amazing how many architectural 'designs' miss some of these simple elements.

The only thing the simple concrete bus shelters in MY small Australian town
have to distinguish them is paintings by local school children and artists
[0], but at least they meet most of the above criteria.

[0] - [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-08/darwin-bus-stops-
pain...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-08/darwin-bus-stops-painted-
outreach-project-vandalism/7492366)

~~~
sokoloff
> Some sort of privacy or seclusion area for women or children who have to
> wait alone

I’m neither of those things, but if the issue is personal safety, wouldn’t a
secluded and private area be _worse_?

~~~
thefifthsetpin
I'm similarly baffled by these ideas. They seem like bad ideas for so many
reasons.

1\. The point you make.

2\. Any man or masculine-looking woman who winds up there (either accidentally
or as the result of the other areas filling up) will be automatically viewed
as a threat.

3\. They're the western equivalent of burkas in that they promote the idea
that men are uncontrollable beings and that the onus is on women to insulate
themselves from us. (Though obviously they're far less extreme than a burka.)

4\. A woman who can't be there finds herself alone in a sea of men, which
seems like an extreme version of the situation they're trying to avoid.

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justtopost
Its public art, but only a few are remotely functional as 'shelters', and only
cool as in freezing waiting for the bus. I like modern, even bauhaus and
brutalist style, but these are just sketches, built. Architechure without
consideration for the human using it is arguably immoral. But thats a whole
conversation in itself.

~~~
pixl97
Hell, the place I was at made 'immoral' bus stops. They were tired of homeless
sheltering in them, so they barely have any protection from sun and rain. Too
bad it gets 110F in the summer.

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leg100
I prefer the home comforts of the Unst bus shelter:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unst_Bus_Shelter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unst_Bus_Shelter)

~~~
lucidstack
That is one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever read, thank you!

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HarryHirsch
Just look at the first fine specimen already. No protection against rain and
wind, but a fine view of the landscape. Good thing the village sits in the
rain shadow of the Alps!

~~~
em-bee
yeah, that one had me wonder too. but i suppose before that there was nothing.
and maybe the raised platform makes it easier to spot the bus in a distance

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weinzierl
The coolest bus shelters are in Dubai - they have air conditioning. They look
cool too.

[http://manonthelam.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Air-
condit...](http://manonthelam.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Air-conditioned-
bus-stop-Dubai-UAE.jpg)

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malandrew
The biggest problem here is that they lack discoverability. You walk to bus
stops which means they need to be recognizable and discoverable. If every one
of them looks different, you need to memorize how all of them look to be able
to spot them at a distance. This current design is only effective for
residents that us the same couple of bus stops every day. For visitors, it's
not very useful. Form has superseded function here.

~~~
xanipher
The bus stops are for the surroundings of Krumbach, which probably means about
one per village. I doubt it will be hard to discover them, especially because
there are still signs for the buses there.

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mitchbob
There are two photo books by Christopher Herwig of some amazing Soviet bus
stops:

[http://fuel-design.com/publishing/soviet-bus-stops/](http://fuel-
design.com/publishing/soviet-bus-stops/)

[http://fuel-design.com/publishing/soviet-bus-stops-volume-ii...](http://fuel-
design.com/publishing/soviet-bus-stops-volume-ii/)

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jgamman
maybe the point is not to be overly functional but some sort of art trail that
people hop on/hop off normal PT in between cafes and galleries etc. for a
small town, even a few hundred tourists per month on weekends can make a huge
difference to the economy. maybe someone else who knows the area could comment
on the route.

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cauldron
Looks good, but I'm afraid it's generally uncomfortable to sit on.

