There was a move to jazzier bus stops in the 90s after decades of dominance by the ubiquitous, and quite elegant, prefab shelters all down the country, as well as their queen's hive that is the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. This is the biggest I have come across from that little flowering of creativity, as well as conveniently being the one that strains the hardest to break the shackles of propriety. I think there was some subtle inspiration from the waves of the sea, and possibly the gentle curves of the seaside dunes...
It is rather strangely sited on a motorway sliproad with no clear way for pedestrians to access it, and while it doesnt provide much for them -if they can make it there- in terms of comfort or convenience, it at least has made damn well sure that it can compete competently with the trucks for visual dominance of the highway.
The only people I see there regularly are the transport police; it seems to have become a convenient base for random stop-and-search...
ReplyDeleteActually, this is only one bus stop out of a series of stop, all of which stood together in Bat-Yam in one street (5-6 in a row).
ReplyDeleteit was so ugly and bad, that Bat-Yam decided to give those stations away - scattered across the highways of Israel
What an incredible story of aesthetic failure.
ReplyDeleteI would love to follow it up...
Would you be able to find out where the other stations are now located?
Would make for a nice treasure/monster-hunt for the next time I'm in the country.