Ukrainian Bus Stops
This work is a research of the bus stop in Ukraine not only as an architectural object within its direct utilitarian function as a waiting place for public transport in a particular place, but also its communicative function.
Bus stops (bus shelters) as small architectural forms belong to the objects of public space. Public space, in this case, I consider as a basis for the presentation of certain messages. The walls of bus stops thus act as a kind of platform for communication between strangers. In addition, messages on the walls often have features of folklore (anonymity, collectivity, variability, should be easily remembered to be reproduced in the future, etc., for example, inscriptions such as "Mary loves Peter").
Messages on the walls can be classified as advertising, private messages of often intimate nature, political (e.g., statement of personal political position or attitude to a certain politician or party) and social (utilitarian) messages.
Special attention should be paid to the bus shelters built when Ukraine was a part of the USSR and their current (at the time of photographing) state in the context of socio-cultural and political conditions (transformations) in Ukraine, the new meanings that these stops received after Ukraine gained independence. After all, through the construction of bus stops in the occupied territories, the Soviet authorities marked and emphasized their presence in this settlement. Also, propaganda motifs were often depicted on the walls of these stops. After the Revolution of Dignity, by the act of desecration of the walls of the bus stop with such motives or their complete destruction, citizens showed their position on preserving the memory of the Soviet heritage in modern Ukraine.
The project was made during 2018-2019. Currently, the archive contains about 650 photos of various stops with details located in Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Poltava and Kharkiv regions.
Dovzhanka, Ternopil Oblast
Shumyna, Lviv Oblast
Tataryntsi, Ternopil Oblast
Holubcha, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Berezivka, Kharkiv Oblast
Slatyne, Kharkiv Oblast
Tokarivka, Kharkiv Oblast
Merefa, Kharkiv Oblast
Krasulya, Zhytomyr Oblast
Stovpy, Zhytomyr Oblast
Kupyshche, Zhytomyr Oblast
Onatskivtsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Krasulya, Zhytomyr Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast
Novosilky, Lviv Oblast
Sosnivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Zhemelyntsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Druzhbivka, Zhytomyr Oblast
Varvarivka, Zhytomyr Oblast
Hrytsiv, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Chotyrboky, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
Krasnoluka, Ternopil Oblast
Davydiv, Lviv Oblast
Kudriava, Lviv Oblast
Kunyn, Rivne Oblast
Strilkovychi, Lviv Oblast
Babyna, Lviv Oblast
Krupets, Rivne Oblast
Steblivka, Rivne Oblast
Kudyryavtsi, Lviv Oblast
Olesko, Lviv Oblast
Kryzhova, Volyn Oblast
Didyliv, Lviv Oblast
Torhanovychy, Lviv Oblast
Korets, Rivne Oblast
Kunyn, Rivne Oblast
Murovane, Lviv Oblast
“Love Ukraine!”