Spanning 13 countries, 30,000 kilometres, and over 750 bus stops, Soviet Bus Stops is the result of an eleven-year archival journey by Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig. These unusual structures, built  across the Soviet Union during the 1960s and '70s, carry traces of individual creativity under a centralised system. Herwig’s lens captures these stops as quiet yet powerful interventions by local architects, craftsmen, and unnamed designers.

The project began in 2002, when Herwig encountered a striking bus stop during a cycling trip from London to St. Petersburg. From Ukraine to Armenia, Siberia to Turkmenistan, his explorations document not just architecture but also a fading visual language and collective memory. From brutalist concrete domes to mosaic-covered shelters and sculptural geometries to pastoral waiting areas, these diverse forms reflect both ideological layers and personal expression.