Googie and programmatic architecture

[renard_ruse]

One of the few modern forms of architecture in the past 80 years that has actually been attractive or made a positive aestetic contribution to society:

Googie architecture is a form of modern architecture, a subdivision of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, the Space Age, and the Atomic Age.

Originating in Southern California during the late 1940s and continuing approximately into the mid-1960s, Googie-themed architecture was popular among motels, coffee houses and gas stations. The school later became widely known as part of the Mid-Century modern style, elements of which represent the populuxe aesthetic, as in Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center. The term "Googie" comes from a now defunct coffee shop and cafe built in West Hollywood.

Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon. Googie was also characterized by Space Age designs symbolic of motion, such as boomerangs, flying saucers, atoms and parabolas, and free-form designs such as "soft" parallelograms and an artist's palette motif. These stylistic conventions represented American society's fascination with Space Age themes and marketing emphasis on futuristic designs...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture

 

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[KRCummings]

There really is a soft spot with many architects for Googie. Not this one but many others. I think it's ugly more often than not.

 

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Not sure if this is Googie, but its cool:

 

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[cleaver]

robertos 'el grande nino'

 

[renard_ruse]

Most of Tomorrowland at the Disney parks is in Googie style:

 

[renard_ruse]

Across the street from the Lennox Car Wash, I'd guess this could be considered Googie based on the colors, use of cements, curved and straight angles, etc:

 

[cleaver]

Jack Colkers Unocal 76 - 90210

 

[renard_ruse]

robertos 'el grande nino'

I freaking love Bob's Big Boy. Was one of my favorite chains as a kid. The chili spaghetti was/is great. Glad to see them making a come back.

 

[cleaver]

remember this one hunny bunny?

 

[renard_ruse]

remember this one hunny bunny?

Been there. Good example of the style.

 

[renard_ruse]

The style even influenced the basic design of Denny's restaturants. To this day, many elements define such coffee shop type restaurants.

 

[renard_ruse]

Mid-century modern apartment building, probably not same as googie but similar in some ways.

I think these might not have held up as well as some of the googie diners. They just seem kind of old when I've been in them. Still interesting though.

 

[KRCummings]

Dude just stop.

 

[renard_ruse]

This one incorporates stylized Oriental elements in the design:

 

[renard_ruse]

Dude just stop

Why?

 

[KRCummings]

Why?

Because you don't know anything about architecture. Just fucking stop.

 

[renard_ruse]