Critics throw shade at LA’S ‘life-changing’ bus shelters
A LOS ANGELES bus shelter without seats or a roof has drawn ridicule after the city claimed it would provide potentially “life-changing” shade to women and minorities.
The $10,000 (£8,000) solar-powered Sombrita, is essentially a pole with a lip that provides a small amount of shade on sunny days and lights up at night.
It has been mooted as potentially the most pointless piece of civic architecture in the world.
The Los Angeles department of transportation said the 6,000 Sombritas at bus stops with narrow pavements were vital to protect women and hailed them as “low cost” infrastructure.
Chelina Odbert, founding principal of the Kounkuey Design Initiative, which developed the structures after talking to female bus passengers, said: “The lack of essential amenities, like shade and lighting, isn’t just a simple inconvenience. For women and gender minorities – half of our population – it can change the trajectory of their lives.”
The Sombrita is around 18 inches (46cm) wide and barely provides enough shade for two people – even when the sun is at a perfect angle.
Kounkey said the design was a response to the fact that only a quarter of LA’S bus stops had traditional shelters, which cost $50,000 each, while eight government departments need to coordinate before they can be installed.
The Sombrita has provoked scorn on social media. “It’s basically a sundial that will occasionally cast shade on to the adjacent bench,” Scott Davis tweeted.
“La Sombrita … provides no seating, almost no shade, and no protection from the elements,” wrote Sam Deutsch in the journal