Archinect - News

Good bus terminal design improves public transit participation, new study finds

2024-08-11T08:00:00-04:00

New research from the Italian University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli into the “hedonic quality” of bus terminals and their effects on users’ consumer behavior has shown an offsetting cost-benefit that correlates to better ridership where there is a higher quality of architectural design.

Satisfied by the aesthetics of virtual shelters or terminals, the paper found “the Italian tourist is willing to spend up to €4.35/trip more for a high-quality bus waiting space or travel up to 28.2 min/trip more, instead of using a traditional bus terminal for the same trip.” These findings add to a body of existing scholarship on urban psychology and behavioral economics. The authors noted the corresponding benefit of reducing emissions from motor vehicles, especially in the center of major population areas.

“In my opinion this is a disruptive result for transport operators and planners,” the paper's coauthor, Armando Cartenì from the university's Department of Architecture and Industrial Desig...

Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects design efficient spaces for Los Angeles density

2018-08-22T13:05:00-04:00

O’Herlihy’s “same old stuff” is, in actuality, bringing plenty of fresh thinking to the issue of density at a time in which Los Angeles is building up instead of out — a time when changes in zoning, especially along transit lines, is adding more condos and apartments to the skyline, transforming the landscape of single family homes for which the city is known. Over the last 15 years, LOHA has made a name for itself by working on projects that make innovative use of tight urban spaces.

Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects (LOHA) has been designing spaces for 24 years with an array of projects ranging from residential complexes to bus stations. Rather than creating luxury living, the firm has chosen to focus on affordable housing, dormitory, and non profit projects.

Dormitory building for UC Santa Barbara by LOHA. Image: Bruce Damonte/LOHA.

Currently LOHA is working on a project in Los Angeles' Exposition Park to house homeless individuals. As Los Angeles becomes denser, more and more efficient projects like LOHA's are needed to save on space and costs. The firm aims to create affordable housing and public spaces that don't compromise on high quality work.

Extra: Read our interview with Lorcan Read our interview with Lorcan about his approach to architecture and urban design in la and detroit.

New photo book documents the beautifully outlandish architecture of Soviet bus stops

2015-09-04T14:46:00-04:00

In western Europe, the bus stop is the most humble of building types, a meanly utilitarian structure that adds little or nothing to the roadside. But in the old Soviet empire, from the shores of the Black Sea to the Kazakh steppe, the norm is “wild going on savage”, as Jonathan Meades writes in a beautiful new photobook featuring 159 bus stops, each illuminating “the Soviet empire’s taste for the utterly fantastical”.

Find more of these beauties photographed by Christopher Herwig for the new book Soviet Bus Stops over at The Guardian.

Apple 2 campus taking shape, NCARB names names, and cities sell out: News Round-Up for September 2, 2014

2014-09-09T18:04:00-04:00

Friday, September 5:

Beijing public transit commuters can now pay fares with empty bottles: Beijingers can insert a recyclable bottle and receive equivalent rebates in train fares or mobile phone credits.
Community Bus Stops Transform Brazil: Thousands of Brazil's bus stops are unmarked, leading fed-up residents to install their own signage under the Que Ônibus Passa Aqui? (Which Bus Stops Here?) program, one of the world's biggest community projects.
Town Becomes a Beer Ad, but Residents Don’t Feel Like a Party: Crested Butte, Colorado, population 1,500, was outfitted for a three-day party to publicize Bud Light, with 1,000 partiers vetted and shipped in by Anheuser-Busch. The town's Mayor agreed to host the party to the tune of $500,000, in part to help boost the town's mostly tourist economy during the difficult "shoulder" season between summer and winter.
Gehry's Revised Eisenhower Memorial Loses Two Controversial Tapestries, But Concerns Remain: Nitpicking continues over the Memori...

Community Bus Stops Transform Brazil

2014-09-05T13:55:00-04:00

Thousands of bus stops in Brazil completely lack signage to indicate which buses actually stop there. The nation-wide inconvenience has finally been tackled by one of the biggest community projects in the world. ‘Que Ônibus Passa Aqui?’ (‘Which Bus Stops here?’) is a resident-led initiative which has taken Brazil by storm.

Editor's Picks #341

2013-11-12T19:20:00-05:00

Beth Rosenthal penned an Op-Ed - Millennials and Opportunity: Embracing Intentional vs Spontaneous Change in the Workforce. In the piece she puts a challenge/question to her contemporaries; "What if rather than changing jobs or companies, you tried to change the system or culture within your existing work environment?...as our generation of millennials 'grows up' a little bit, and decides to potentially (just maybe?!) settle down a bit, how do we identify opportunities to yield change through a thoughtful investment of time and commitment?".

Steven Ward agreed with the gist but added "i think there is value in change at the beginning of your career…later on, stability is good…but don't just stick to stick. find a situation that you value, that makes you want to become rooted and engaged in a more committed way".

Plus, the latest edition of the Working out of the Box featured Liz von Hasseln, one part of the husband-and-wife team and 3D sugar-printing design firm, The Sugar ...

World Class Architects Design Bus Stops in Austria

2013-11-07T15:56:00-05:00

The tiny Austrian village of Krumbach has commissioned international architecture firms to build avant-garde bus stops. The "Bus:Stop" project was conceived by Krumbach's cultural association, which hired prominent Austrian architect Dietmar Steiner to act as curator. Though he counts major architects from around the world among his contacts, he chose to maintain a boutique feel: "No starchitects, just small offices with sculptural interest."

High Tech Bus Stop in Paris by Patrick Jouin

2012-06-28T17:00:00-04:00

French designer Patrick Jouin has shared with us his latest project for client JCDecaux – a high tech bus stop (free Wifi anyone?) situated at the corner of Boulevard Henry IV and Place de la Bastille in Paris. Jouin has collaborated with JCDecaux on urban furniture since 2007, most notably for Vélib, the public bicycle sharing system in Paris.

Paris: "the bus stop of the future"

2012-06-20T14:41:00-04:00

Yes, it's still a bus shelter, but the idea is to make it both more useful and more of a social space. People may come here for a range of things other than catching the bus, so that social interaction and the life of the street intermix with waiting to produce a more vibrant, interesting, and safe environment.