Former Soviet Empire’s Bus Stops Put Our Plexiglass Enclosures to Shame

Christopher Herwig captures images of bus stops from the former Soviet empire that puts our half-enclosed plexiglass structures to shame in the series ‘Soviet Bus Stops.’ Looking more like permanent art installations than where people wait for the bus to arrive, the roadside pavilions were actually built by local sculptors, architects and builders. At a time when the Soviet society was made to be monotonous, the government quite surprisingly deemed bus stops to stand out as pinnacles of creativity. The wide array of aesthetics range from the modern art-deco brimming with a dazzling display of colors to the minimalist approach where a tin roof above a singular bench can be seen in Armenia. Herwig started the project back in 2002 during his trek from London to Stockholm when he noticed the progressively outlandish structures from the side of the road. Years later, on his move to Kazakhstan, he noticed the same artfully decorated bus stops and the structural variations from one region to another. “It seemed like each had its own completely unique personality. It began to make me realize that, behind the iron curtain and the cliches about the Soviet Union that we grew up with in the west, there were millions of individuals daydreaming and pushing the limits of creativity.”

For a related article, try Bus Stop and Lounge Area in One.