World architects design quirky bus shelters

The small town of Krumbach in the Bregenzerwald region of Austria wanted a fresh approach to its "Buswartehaüsle" (bus shelters.)  So it invited architects from Russia,  Norway, Belgium, Spain, Chile, Japan and China to create designs which have put the town on the map.

BUS:STOP, an art and architecture project which is part of Kultur Krumbach, sees the bus shelters as far more than just a place to stay out of the rain.  

GALLERY: World architects design quirky bus shelters

According to spokesperson Tamara Bechter, the work with the seven different international architecture practices, cooperating with local architects, was an unusual opportunity to engage in an intensive dialogue with Vorarlberg tradition, architecture and handcraft.

She told The Local that the Bregenzerwald region is "using an apparently minor design task to make comparisons between different vocabularies and schools of thought, between east and west, north and south."

As an area famous for its architecture, "we want to help shape the processes of international exchange."

"This project is for the most part privately financed through sponsors. The fee for the international architects is somewhat unusual: a holiday in the Bregenzerwald. Inn-keepers, craft workers and business people from our village and region provide us with solid and energetic support", she said.

Check out the gallery here.