What is happening to our bus stops?
Lately, some bus stops in Canberra have been subjected to drastic remodelling. Many bus stops situated around Canberra feature a round, cream and orange coloured, concrete shelter. These bus shelters are considered to be Canberra icons as they are unlike any other in Australia, however these icons are under threat of being removed and replaced with generic bus shelters made of aluminium and glass.
Designed by highly regarded, local Canberran architect, Clem Cummings (1934 – 1997), the cream and orange bus shelters first appeared at Canberra bus stops in 1975. Cummings was a prominent figure in the architecture profession and has an award dedicated to him known as the Clem Cummings Medal that recognises contributions by persons to architecture and the public interest.
The concrete bus shelters were designed during the ‘Brutalist’ period of architecture. Brutalism is the label retrospectively given to a style of architecture that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. It is perhaps, most characterised by heavy expanses of exposed concrete and virtually no other decorations, a style these bus shelters emulate. They have been characterised by locals with colourful names such as: ‘The Tanks’, ‘The Pill Boxes’, and ‘The Concrete Bunkers’. You may find, however, that a lot of these ‘Brutalist’ bus shelters have beautiful artist murals that give it an added individual charm.
If you have not been able to appreciate the character these bus shelters exude, perhaps the next time you come across one, take some time to examine it a little more closely. You may be surprised to notice that even its simple geometric shape compliments the garden suburb personality of Canberra’s street environments.
These concrete bus stops have become a recognisable and familiar feature of Canberra’s suburban landscape, leaving an imprint on the minds of residents and visitors alike. The fact that these bus shelters still serve their practical purpose well raises questions about the rationale of having them ripped out and replaced. When he designed Canberra, Walter Burley Griffin stated: “I have designed a city that is not like any other in the world.”
Although that legacy remains today, it is under threat. In this particular example the threat is in the form of your stereotypical bus shelter made of aluminium and glass that can be found everywhere else outside of Canberra.
Have your say – please share your stories and experiences you have had with these concrete bus shelters.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83914356@N03/7688106674/
Lyttleton Crescent, Cook, ACT 2614
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83914356@N03/7687821386/
Lachlan Street, Macquarie, ACT 2614
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What’s Your opinion?
ACT Government putting a ‘stop’ to the Concrete Bus Shelters?
ACT Bus said :
Are they selling any of them? I can think of a couple of uses out at the farm for them.
In the majority of cases, the bunker shelters are actually being ‘transplanted’ elsewhere into the network. You’ll see more of them pop up in the older suburbs as the ones on the major thoroughfares are replaced with the newer ones.
there’s one new bus shelter along Melrose drive that was smashed into oblivion not that long ago.
DrKoresh said :
I think that it would be cruel to evict the trolls who live in such a bus shelter near me. One wears a skirt made of plastic bags, and the other mumbles something about how much he earns to whoever will listen. We nod and give him small pieces of goat.
The ‘stop’ in the headline is as clunky and retro as the bus-shelters, incidentally.
p1 said :
So, they *did* ‘compliment the garden suburb personality of Canberra’s street environments’!
There used to be one near my house in Cook which had collected sufficient leaves on the roof for it to mulch down and grow a decent crop of grass.
jazzamac said :
I remember as a schoolkid being driven to Forster for a family holiday in January 1976 seeing one of these “iconic shelters” on the central coast near Wyong (No F3 all the way to Newcastle back then). They are/were not “unique to Canberra”.
Can i get an old one from the ACT gov? Would make a good chook / wood shed / cubby house / fallout shelter.
Gantz said :
Stuff that, it’s the new crappy glass ones that are the problem. They glass bits are always being broken, the seats are uncomfy and the only part of the structure that’s vandalism resistant is the great big fracking ads that comprise half of the shelter. The new ones are the ugly ones, representative of the cheap disposable culture of today, and of the influence corporate entities are having over more and more aspects of our lives. ‘
If that’s what it means to enter the 21st century then you’ll find me partying like it’s still 1999
The problem with new bus shelters is that while they look modern they don’t do much sheltering. They don’t provide much protection from rain, or wind or the sun. While the old bus shelters may look ugly and are not well maintained by the ACT Government, they do provide much more protection from the rain, wind and sun. This is important if you use bus shelters and are looking for shelter.
They are ugly, cold, and at night, especially dark. They have been around for so long, that the only thing you’ll find on examining one, as you have suggested would be fun,
is broken seating, blood, spit trash, gum and a strong stench of urine.
They offer no protection from the elements (though neither do the new shelters) and are a high security risk.
They ‘exude’ no character, and are ugly, deteriorating concrete slabs, that now removed, should have our Town seem like it is entering the 21st century.
I think the old ones look awful. I’m not really sad to see them go.
The one in Goulburn is probably a severed big merino testicle.
There is one in Goulburn as well http://goo.gl/maps/6Ym4e