A fascinating journey of architectural obsession

September 16, 2015 7:43 AM

Likely the largest collection of Soviet Bus Stops ever assembled.
posted by BuddhaInABucket (13 comments total)

The more desolate ones are what I imagine the world of A Canticle for Leibowitz to look like.
posted by griphus at 7:57 AM on September 16, 2015 [6 favorites]

These are amazing.
posted by Nelson at 8:07 AM on September 16, 2015

In Abkhazia my driver accused me of being a Georgian agent and photographing sensitive material. He demanded a bribe, otherwise, it would be “straight to the militizia and a firing squad”. Needless to say, he was not convinced by my story that, “I have only come to your country to see your pretty bus stops”.
posted by figurant at 8:11 AM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

“I have only come to your country to see your pretty bus stops”

And, what's more, my hovercraft is full of eels.
posted by sobarel at 8:17 AM on September 16, 2015 [4 favorites]

Excellent, although I see they were fooled by the "bus stop" disguise of the large Spider Mecha currently lurking in Estonia.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:21 AM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

This guy seriously gets photography. Light, form, composition...superb.
posted by sidereal at 8:43 AM on September 16, 2015

Say what you want about the former Soviet Union, but at least they attempted to put art everywhere. Even if it was terrible and clearly a reflection of that regime .
posted by blue_beetle at 8:52 AM on September 16, 2015 [4 favorites]

These are really beautiful. That last one looks like a concrete wave threatening to break onto the head of that woman. Lacking maintenance, I suspect that's not too far from the truth.
posted by postel's law at 9:27 AM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

Could drum up some interest in Central Asian tourism.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:48 AM on September 16, 2015

This is so great. What a cool mission.
posted by cincinnatus c at 11:25 AM on September 16, 2015

thank you for this. really really enjoyed it.
posted by sciencegeek at 11:42 AM on September 16, 2015

I went to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in July and spent a lot of time on the road. I remember driving past these bus stops and wondering if there were any buses in service anymore. Still, in Kyrgyzstan sometimes you would come across people standing by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, hitchhiking. It seemed like the primary means of transport for people to get from town to town. In summer the sun is terribly unforgiving so those little rest stops must be useful. It seems odd to set up bus stops in the middle of nowhere, but if you are semi-nomadic and take your herds out the grasslands in the summers then it would make sense to want to get on and off the bus in some desolate area.
posted by pravit at 2:50 PM on September 16, 2015

So glad to see this on the Blue. This guy was the first Kickstarter I ever funded and the book was truly worth waiting for.
posted by ninazer0 at 4:18 AM on September 18, 2015