Trading a free vacation for their design input, a series of world-renowned designers each contributed their vision of a bus shelter to a tiny town of just 1,000 residents in Austria.
Each structure within the Bus:Stop project is unique and dramatic, aimed at creating a new attraction for the area in addition to the existing natural and resort amenities of Krumbach and its surroundings.
All provide differing degrees of refuge from the elements, with some drawing on regional building typologies (stacked raw wood) or directing attention to site-specific views within and around the town (angled indicators pointing to sights).
The last example above is the largest, providing both a bus shelter as well as a second-story viewing platform for a local tennis court.
Together with a local architecture firm and craftspeople, theses diverse shelters reflect both international design approaches and boast the capabilities of regional creatives and builders.
The list of contributors includes: “Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, Wang Shu’s Amateur Architecture Studio from China, Norwegian studio RintalaEggertsson Architects, Ensamble Studio from Spain, Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, Architecten de Vylder Vinck Taillieu from Belgium and Russian architect Alexander Brodsky. The project was overseen by Dietmar Steiner, the director of Vienna architecture museum Architekturzentrum Wien. Local private sponsors including hotel and inn owners, craft workers and business people provided the majority of the funding and services to support the process. The bus stops were inaugurated on 1 May and an exhibition documenting the design and construction process is currently on show at the Vai Vorarlberger Architektur Institut in the city of Dornbirn.”
