Krumbach is a small village in the Vorarlberg area of Austria. Besides the beautiful countryside, like other villages in the area, this place is famous for having seven extraordinary bus shelters.
All of them were designed by architectural masters like Sou Fujimoto, Smiljan Radić and Wang Shu. And they are an amazing sight in the middle of the tiny roads crossing this beautiful area. We loved them so much that we decided to visit them and take pictures of everything.
But before we show you pictures of those beautifully designed bus stops, we have to tell you something about the village where they are located.
Krumbach is a small village in an amazing part of Austria called Vorarlberg. The town has a population of about 1000 people scattered around the green areas used for agriculture. We traveled through the area for a few days, which was breathtaking. The village can be small, but it’s filled with life, and you need to go there to see it with your own eyes.
International Architects, Local Impact: The Krumbach Bus Stops
When we visited Krumbach, we were driving a rented car, but many people were going through the area by public transportation, using the yellow Landbus that can be seen on every road in Vorarlberg. This is why the bus stop project came to be.
The Krumbach Cultural Association created the Bus Stop Krumbach project to boost the number of tourists visiting the Bregenzerwald area. They were looking to promote an international exchange of ideas, and this is how they managed to invite 7 international architecture offices to design small bus stops or bus shelters for the community of Krumbach and for the people who, like us, visited the village.
The architects invited were Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, Wang Shu’s Amateur Architecture Studio from China, Ensemble Studio from Spain, Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, Russian architect Alexander Brodsky, Norwegian studio RintalaEggertsson ArchitEnsemble Architecten de Vylder Vinck Taillieu from Belgium.
If you are wondering why buses stop, Dieter Steiner, the curator of Bus Stop Krumbach and director of Architekturzentrum Wien, has the answer.
“The small form presents architecture with the greatest challenge. Only the best manage to achieve something great at a small scale. — Dieter Steiner”
Instead of a project fee, the architects were offered a holiday in Vorarlberg for their services. The idea is that they should explore the area and use what they saw and what they did there as a source of inspiration to create amazing bus stops. But the dialogue with the landscape, the people of the area and the local culture didn’t stop there. With the help of local craftspeople and skilled local architects, they managed to build the seven bus stops in Krumbach, and now it is time to take a look at their creations.
Beyond Function: The Art of the Krumbach Bus Stops
Bränden by Sou Fujimoto, Japan
First, let’s discuss the amazing work of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. He created a bus stop that looks like a forest of thin steel rods barely supporting a winding staircase. His design follows the concept that architecture should not adapt itself to nature and should not imitate it.
Because of this philosophical approach to a bus stop, it no longer has a protecting function. They intended to create a bus stop where people could meet and enjoy the view. It also functions as a landmark to the village, which we are pretty sure it does well.
Glatzegg by Amateur Architecture Studio, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, China
Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu of Amateur Architecture Studio designed a wooden shelter based on the idea of a camera obscura that is easily our favorite bus stop between all seven.
We love it because this is no longer a bus shelter or bus stop. It is a folding camera that people can sit inside. Its lenses are abstract, but they show the beauty of the place. Focused on the scenery, this bus stop is more than it needs to be, and we loved it.
Unterkrumbach Nord by Ensamble Studio, Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa, Spanien
From Architects Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa of the Spanish office Ensemble Studio, a bus stop looks out of place. We mean that because it seems like something we saw everywhere we drove in Vorarlberg. The inspiration for this bus stop was the stacked, untreated planks of wood that can be seen everywhere in this part of Austria.
The architects from the Ensemble Studio appropriated a local technique of stacking wood planks. They created something else with it, showing the local population that what they do is beautiful and can be translated to the architectural space without problems.
Zwing by Smiljan Radic, Chile
The bus stop designed by Smiljan Radic was the first one we saw while driving around Krumbach with a map in hand. His design is a simple glass box with a black concrete ceiling and a wooden birdhouse attached to it.
His work might look simple, but it clearly inspires the handcraft and traditions of Vorarlberg. The interior area references the house parlor, which is common in this part of Austria. With this in mind, the architect transfers the intimacy of the living room to an exposed bus stop.
Kressbad by Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Norwegen
Rintala Eggertsson Architects built something that moves along design, art and architecture boundaries. The bus stop they designed responds well to its location and creates a special narrative for it.
This bus stop is located near a tennis court, and it was built with a social function in mind. Its timber shingle-clad cover was augmented to serve as a spectator stand for the court.
Oberkrumbach by Alexander Brodsky, Russland
Alexander Brodsky is the architect responsible for this bus stop, which resembles an archaic tower that watches over the street and the cars that go by. It might not seem like much, but it has a reason for it.
The architect could use a small leftover area at the edge of a site used by a family house. He had to play around with this restriction in mind, so he built it with openings on all sides and a separate floor focused on birds.
Unterkrumbach Süd
by Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, Belgien
Belgian office Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu was so impressed by the Alps crossing by car on his way to Krumbach that it became clear it would be a part of their bus stop. This bus stop looks like a low-resolution image of the mountains surrounding Krumbach. However, the architects see it as an ambiguous form between the sculptural and the inhabitable. And we loved it.
Krumbach’s Unexpected Attraction: World-Class Bus Stops
Above, you can see a map of the seven bus stops in Krumbach. If you want to visit them all, first go to the Bus Terminal in Krumbach and get a flyer with the story behind them and a map of where they are placed. It will be useful to get to Bus Stop Krumbach; trust us on that.
Frame Travel Roam Capture visited Krumbach with Visit Vorarlberg, and we loved every minute.
