Shining a light on (and from within) our iconic bus shelters
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Clem Cummings probably never envisaged his brutalist concrete bus shelters would become an iconic Canberra design.
He created the practical shelter for the National Capital Development Commission in 1974, and to this day there are still more than 450 in use.
But the design has taken on an added life, with bus shelters immortalised in artworks, on T-shirts, in earrings, tattoos and even cakes.
From this week, you can also purchase your very own touch lamp, fresh from the design files of North/South.
The Canberra design company which started in 2023 coined the “Canberra thinks you’re boring too” tag which you can buy on mugs, fridge magnets and T-shirts.
Now the proudly local design duo of Andrew Ly and Jennaya Montgomery have come up with their next viral design.
The Bus Shelter Lamp.
“I actually came up with this lamp idea last Tuesday after seeing an NYC subway lamp someone made on Instagram and the idea of the bus shelter just clicked in my mind,” says Andrew.
“From there, I made a 3D model from scratch, printed it, figured out what worked and what didn’t. Then on Sunday I made adjustments to the model, printed it while out doing groceries, and then came home and started assembling and wiring it! From there, I immediately took photos, set up the preorder page, edited the reel and finished at 1am this morning to post/launch at 8am!”
He is taking preorders for July delivery with the lamp retailing for an introductory price of $49.
Andrew says the shelters are iconic “because they’re such a unique quirk of Canberra! If you grew up here, you’ve spent time in one, so they end up being this shared, almost universal experience.
“They’re big, solid, brutalist, and they’ve stood the test of time in a city that’s changed a lot over the past 50 years. For a lot of people, they’re a lasting symbol of growing up in Canberra. Funnily enough, I’d even heard about them before I moved to Australia, which says a lot about their reputation!”
A Canadian native who settled in Canberra because of Jennaya, Andrew has understood the Canberra psyche pretty well for an “outsider”.
“I think Canberrans make it pretty easy. People here really wear their hearts on their sleeves when it comes to the city. There’s this mix of pride and defensiveness that’s unique. After living here for five years, you start to notice all the little quirks that people genuinely care about, and those things cumulatively add up to a strong sense of identity.”
Usually, a lit-up bus shelter means it’s late, dark, and you’d rather be literally anywhere else. This version, though, is all warmth, comfort, and zero chance of a delayed bus.
