A Taipei bus shelter built as a public artwork is already showing problems before it even opens, a bad look for the city's spending on public art.

• The shelter next to Muzha Park in Taipei's Wenshan District cost NT$4.13 million and is not yet in service.
• Plants on its roof, meant to echo the area's hills, have thinned and turned brown within a month.
• Heavy rain left large rust-colored stains on the ground below, pointing to material problems.
• City councilor Wang Hsin-yi says upkeep will be hard because workers need ladders to reach the roof planting.
• The project is 90% through inspection, and the development bureau says contractors will have to fix any flaws before final sign-off.

Outlook: The shelter is due for completion in October, and the fight now is over whether defects get fixed before handover or pushed into the two-year warranty period.