Photographer Christopher Herwig traveled over 30 kilometers in 13 countries of the former Soviet Union to document the strangeness of the bus stops created by the former Soviet regime where artists and architects experimented with new and unique styles.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThe photographer Christopher Herwig he traveled over 30 kilometers in 13 countries of the former Soviet Union to document the strangeness of the bus stops created by the former Soviet regime where artists and architects experimented with new and unique styles.
From the shores of the Black Sea to the Kazakh steppes, bus stops show a glimpse of what was the Soviet era. In his shots enclosed in various photographic volumes, Herwig shows what can still be seen today in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Belarus.
Bus stops were among the few structures that could maintain their own autonomy, the only diktat imposed by the regime was that they had to be beautiful and reflect the local aesthetics. Having said that the architects and artists were free to express theirs creativeness.
These strange shelters are rich in architectural styles and look nothing like what we're used to thinking of as a bus stop - there are pyramids, arches, domes and vaults.
The Georgian sculptor and architect Zurab Tsereteli, who designed some of the more elaborate structures around Pitsunda on the Black Sea, recalls:
“The bus stop should not be considered as an aseptic space, but a real monument of monumental contemporary art”.
The images you see below are the result of a work that lasted twelve years, what do you think?
Other extravagant street furniture:
- ROTTERDAM'S FUN PEDESTRIAN STRIPS THAT CELEBRATE AND PROTECT PEDESTRIANS
- DISUSED WIND TURBINES TURN INTO A PLAYGROUND (PHOTO)
- OLD TELEPHONE BOOTHS IN LUGANO TURN INTO FREE LIBRARIES
Dominella Trunfio
Gallery
