View source for Googie architecture

{{Short description|20th-century American architectural style}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{About|the 20th-century architectural style in the United States|the British actress|Googie Withers|the American percussionist|Arthur Googy}}
{{Distinguish|Google}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
[[File:NormsRestaurant LaCienega.JPG|thumb|[[Norms Restaurants]] location on [[La Cienega Boulevard]] in [[Los Angeles]]]]

'''Googie architecture''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|u:|g|i|audio=en-us-Googie.oga}} {{respell|GOO|ghee}}<ref>{{cite episode|first=Neda|author-link=Neda Ulaby|last=Ulaby|date=July 14, 2011|title=Out Of This World: Designs Of The Space Age|series=NPR Morning Edition|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/14/137763046/out-of-this-world-designs-of-the-space-age|access-date=June 5, 2016}}</ref>) is a type of [[futurist architecture]] influenced by [[car culture]], [[Jet aircraft|jet]]s, the [[Atomic Age]] and the [[Space Age]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Friedlander |first=Whitney |date=May 18, 2008 |title=Go on a SoCal hunt for Googie architecture |agency=[[Los Angeles Times]] |work=[[Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=February 11, 2009 |quote=It was the 1950s. America was a superpower, and the Los Angeles area was a center of it.  The space race was on. A car culture was emerging. So were millions of postwar babies. Businesses needed ways to get families out of their automobiles and into coffee shops, bowling alleys, gas stations and motels. They needed bright signs and designs showing that the future was now. They needed color and new ideas. They needed Googie. |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/la-trw-googie18-2008may18,0,7267506.story?page=1 |archive-date=January 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106190555/http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/la-trw-googie18-2008may18,0,7267506.story?page=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It originated in [[Southern California]] from the [[Streamline Moderne]] architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the United States from roughly 1945 to the early 1970s.<ref name="Smithsonian2012">{{cite web|title=Googie: Architecture of the Space Age|last=Novak|first=Matt|date=June 15, 2012|website=Smithsonian.com|url=http://www.smithsonian.com/history/googie-architecture-of-the-space-age-122837470/|access-date=May 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605142837/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/googie-architecture-of-the-space-age-122837470/|archive-date=June 5, 2020}}</ref>

Googie-themed architecture was popular among roadside businesses, including [[motel]]s, [[coffee house]]s and [[gas station]]s. The style later became widely known as part of the [[mid-century modern]] style, elements of which represent the [[populuxe]] aesthetic,<ref name="StagerCarver2006">{{cite book|last1=Stager|first1=Claudette|last2=Carver|first2=Martha|title=Looking Beyond the Highway: Dixie Roads and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VkYQT_1pO4cC&pg=PA158|access-date=August 9, 2013|year=2006|publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press|isbn=978-1-57233-467-0|page=158}}</ref><ref name="CotterYoung2004">{{cite book|last1=Cotter|first1=Bill|last2=Young|first2=Bill|title=The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mfbPbQmG9mQC&pg=PA51|access-date=August 9, 2013|year=2004|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-3606-4|page=51|chapter=Populuxe and Pop Art}}</ref> as in [[Eero Saarinen]]'s [[TWA Terminal]]. The term ''Googie'' comes from the now-defunct [[Googies Coffee Shop]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |first=Valerie J.|last=Nelson|title=Eldon Davis dies at 94; architect designed 'Googie' coffee shops |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-me-eldon-davis-20110426,0,5591348.story |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 26, 2011 |access-date=May 15, 2011}}</ref> designed by [[John Lautner]].<ref>[http://www.archdaily.com/tag/john-lautner/ John Lautner] Why Do Bad Guys Always Get The Best Houses? October 31 by Rory Stott ArchDaily</ref> Similar architectural styles are also referred to as '''Populuxe''' or '''Doo Wop'''.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KdFQ8_csr9QC Doo Wop Motels: Architectural Treasures of The Wildwoods]'' by Kirk Hastings 2007, p.2</ref><ref name=league/>

Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvilinear, [[Geometry|geometric]] shapes, and bold use of [[glass]], [[steel]] and [[neon sign]]s. Googie was also characterized by Space Age designs symbolic of motion, such as [[boomerang]]s, [[flying saucer]]s, diagrammatic [[atom]]s and [[parabola]]s, and free-form designs such as "soft" [[parallelogram]]s and an artist's [[Palette (painting)|palette]] motif. These stylistic conventions represented American society's fascination with Space Age themes and marketing emphasis on futuristic designs. As with the [[Art Deco]] style of the 1910s–1930s, Googie became less valued as time passed, and many buildings in this style have been destroyed. Some examples have been preserved, though, such as [[Oldest McDonald's restaurant|the oldest McDonald's stand]] (located in [[Downey, California]]).

==Origins==
[[Image:Car Wash, San Bernardino, CA.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Googie-style [[car wash]]]]
The origin of the name Googie dates to 1949, when architect [[John Lautner]] designed the [[Googies Coffee Shop]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], which had distinct architectural characteristics.<ref name=Hess66-68>Hess 2004, pp. 66–68</ref> The name "Googie" had been a family nickname of Lillian K. Burton, the wife of the restaurant's original owner, Mortimer C. Burton, and aunt of musician [[Peter Matz]].<ref name=Hess73-74>Hess 2004, pp. 73–74</ref><ref name=latimes-burton>{{cite news |title=Googie's  |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-10-me-22162-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=July 10, 1986 |access-date=February 27, 2011 }}</ref>

Googies was located at the corner of [[Sunset Boulevard]] and Crescent Heights in [[Los Angeles]] but was demolished in 1989.<ref>Langdon 1986, p.114</ref> The name Googie became a rubric for the architectural style when editor [[Douglas Haskell]] of ''House and Home'' magazine and architectural photographer [[Julius Shulman]] were driving through Los Angeles one day. Haskell insisted on stopping the car upon seeing Googies and proclaimed "This is Googie architecture."<ref name=Hess66-68/> He popularized the name after an article he wrote appeared in a 1952 edition of ''House and Home'' magazine.<ref>Abbott 1993, p.174</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=February 25, 1952 |title=Art: Googie |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,816051,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218184509/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,816051,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 18, 2010 |access-date=March 5, 2009 |quote=Googie architecture, says ''House & Home'', is 'Modern Architecture Uninhibited&nbsp;... an art in which anything and everything goes—so long as it's modern'}}</ref>

Though Haskell coined the term Googie and was an advocate of modernism, he did not appreciate the Googie aesthetic. In his article he used the fictional Professor Thrugg's overly effusive praise to mock Googie, at the same time lampooning Hollywood, which he felt informed the aesthetic.<ref name="Smithsonian2012" />

==History==
[[File:Elm Road Drive-In Theatre-2.jpg|thumb|right|Classic Googie sign at [[Warren, Ohio]] drive-in]]
Googie's beginnings are with the [[Streamline Moderne]] architecture of the 1930s.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 26</ref> [[Alan Hess]], one of the most knowledgeable writers on the subject, writes in ''Googie: Ultra Modern Road Side Architecture'' that mobility in [[Los Angeles]] during the 1930s was characterized by the initial influx of the automobile and the service industry that evolved to cater to it. With car ownership increasing, cities no longer had to be centered on a central [[downtown]] but could spread out to the [[suburb]]s, where business hubs could be interspersed with residential areas. The suburbs offered less congestion by offering the same businesses, but accessible by car. Instead of one main store downtown, businesses now had multiple stores in suburban areas. This new trend required owners and architects to develop a visual imagery so customers would recognize it from the road. This modern consumer architecture was based on communication.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 30</ref>

The new smaller suburban drive-in restaurants were essentially architectural signboards advertising the business to vehicles on the road. This was achieved by using bold style choices, including large pylons with elevated signs, bold neon letters and circular pavilions.<ref>Hess 2004, pp. 41–42</ref> Hess writes that because of the increase in [[mass production]] and travel during the 1930s, Streamline Moderne became popular because of the high energy silhouettes its sleek designs created. These buildings featured rounded edges, large pylons and neon lights, all symbolizing, according to Hess, "invisible forces of speed and energy", that reflect the influx of mobility that [[automobile|cars]], [[locomotive]]s and [[zeppelin]]s brought.<ref name="Hess 2004, p.29">Hess 2004, p. 29</ref>

Streamline Moderne, much like Googie, was styled to look futuristic to signal the beginning of a new era – that of the automobile and other technologies. Drive-in services such as [[diner]]s, [[movie theater]]s and [[filling station]]s built with the same principles developed to serve the new American city.<ref name="Hess 2004, p.29"/> [[Drive-in]]s had advanced car-oriented architectural design, as they were built with an expressive utilitarian style, circular and surrounded by a parking lot, allowing all customers equal access from their cars.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 39</ref> These developments in consumer-oriented design set the stage for Googie during the 1950s, since during the 1940s World War II and rationing caused a pause of development because of the imposed frugality on the American public.

With the increasing prosperity of the United States during the 1950s, however, American designers celebrated this new affluence with optimistic designs. The development of [[nuclear power]] and the reality of [[spaceflight]] captivated the public's imagination of the future.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 46–47</ref> Googie architecture exploited this trend by incorporating energy into its design with elements such as the [[boomerang]], diagonals, atomic bursts and bright colors.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 47 and pp. 192–193</ref> According to Hess, commercial architecture was influenced by the desires of the mass audience.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 50–51</ref> The public was captivated by [[Spacecraft|rocket ships]] and [[Nuclear power|nuclear energy]], so, in order to draw their attention, architects used these as motifs in their work. Buildings had been used to catch the attention of motorists since the invention of the car, but during the 1950s the style became more widespread.

[[File:Burbank bob's big boy patio 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Patio tables at the Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California<ref name="bigboy">{{cite web|author=Bob's Big Boy |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?q=4211+Riverside+Drive+in+Burbank,+California&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hl=en&sll=34.152580,-118.346154&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ei=AAklSampJpvIjAOMwrSKDQ&cd=1&cid=34152580,-118346154,10172169188564152074&li=lmd&z=14&t=m |title=maps.google.com |publisher=Google Maps |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=June 25, 2013}}</ref>]]
The identity of the first architect to practice in the style is often disputed, though [[Wayne McAllister]] was one early and influential architect in starting the style with his 1949 [[Bob's Big Boy]] restaurant in [[Burbank, California|Burbank]].<ref name="bigboy"/> McAllister got his start designing fashionable restaurants in Southern California, which led to a series of Streamline Moderne [[drive-in]]s during the 1930s; though he did not have formal training as an architect, he had been offered a scholarship at the architecture school at the University of Pennsylvania because of his skill.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 36</ref> McAllister developed a brand for coffee shop chains by developing a style for each client – which also allowed customers to easily recognize a store from the road.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 86</ref>

Along with McAllister, the prolific Googie architects included [[John Lautner]], Douglas Honnold, and the team of [[Louis Armet]] and [[Eldon Davis]] of [[Armet & Davis]] firm, which they founded in 1947.<ref name=latimes/> Also instrumental in developing the style was designer [[Helen Liu Fong]], a member of the firm of [[Armet and Davis]]. Joining the firm during 1951, she created such Googie interiors as those of the [[Johnie's Coffee Shop]] on Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, the first [[Norms Restaurant]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Emily Alpert |last=Reyes|title=L.A. to consider preservation of Googie-style Norms on La Cienega |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0116-norms-20150116-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 16, 2015 |access-date=January 16, 2015}}</ref> and the [[Holiday Bowl (building)|Holiday Bowl]] on Crenshaw Boulevard.

America's interest in spaceflight had a significant influence on the unique style of Googie architecture. During the 1950s, [[Spaceflight|space travel]] became a reality for the first time in history. In 1957 the [[Soviet Union]] launched [[Sputnik I]], the first human-made satellite to achieve Earth orbit. The Soviet Union then launched [[Vostok 1]] carrying the first human, [[Yuri Gagarin]], into Earth orbit in 1961. The [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] and [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] administrations made competing with the Soviets for dominance in space a national priority of considerable urgency and importance. This marked the beginning of the so-called "[[Space Race]]".

Googie-style signs usually boast sharp and bold angles, intended to suggest the aerodynamic features of a rocket ship. Also, at the time, the unique architecture was a form of architectural expressionism, as space rockets were technological novelties at the time.

==Characteristics==
[[File:Johnnie's Coffee Shop for Wiki 1.jpg|thumb|[[Johnie's Coffee Shop]] on [[Wilshire Boulevard]], Los Angeles, designed by [[Armet & Davis]]]]
[[File:Welcome to vegas.jpg|thumb|[[Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign]]]]

[[Cantilever]]ed structures, acute angles, illuminated plastic paneling, freeform [[boomerang]] and artist's [[Palette (painting)|palette]] shapes and cutouts, and [[Car tailfin|tailfins]] on buildings marked Googie architecture, which was contemptible to some architects of then-current High Art [[Modernism]], but had defenders during the [[Post-Modernism|post-Modern]] period at the end of the 20th century. The common elements that generally distinguish Googie from other forms of architecture are:

* '''Roofs sloping at an upward angle''': This is the one particular element in which architects were creating a unique structure. Many Googie style coffee shops, and other structures, have a roof that appears to be {{frac|2|3}} of an inverted obtuse triangle. An example of this is the famous, but now closed, [[Johnie's Coffee Shop]] on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
* '''Starbursts''': Starbursts are an ornament that is common with the Googie style, showing its Space Age and whimsical influences. Perhaps the most notable example of the starburst appears on the [[Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign|"Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign]]. The ornamental design is in the form of, as Hess writes, "a high-energy explosion".<ref>Hess 2004, p. 194</ref> This shape is an example of non-[[utilitarian design]], as the star shape has no actual function but merely serves as a design element.

The boomerang shape was another design element that captured movement. It was used structurally in place of a pillar or aesthetically as a stylized arrow. Hess writes that the boomerang was a stylistic rendering of a directional energy field.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 192</ref>

Editor Douglas Haskell described the abstract Googie style, saying that "If it looks like a bird, this must be a geometric bird."<ref name=Hess2004>Hess 2004, p. 68</ref> Also, the buildings must appear to defy gravity, as Haskell noted: "whenever possible, the building must hang from the sky".<ref name=Hess2004/> Haskell's third tenet for Googie was that it have more than one theme—more than one structural system.<ref name=Hess2004/> Because of its need to be noticed from moving automobiles along the commercial strip, Googie was not a style noted for its subtlety.

One of the more famous Googie buildings is the [[Theme Building]] at [[Los Angeles International Airport]] (LAX), designed by James Langenheim of [[William Pereira]] and [[Charles Luckman]] and built during 1961.

One of the remaining Googie-styled drive-in restaurants, Harvey's Broiler (Paul Clayton, 1958), later [[Johnie's Broiler]] in [[Downey, California]], was partially demolished in 2006. However, through the efforts of citizens, the city of Downey, and historic preservationists, the structure was rebuilt and reopened in 2009 as a [[Bob's Big Boy]] restaurant.

Another remaining example of Googie architecture still in operation is the main terminal at [[Washington Dulles International Airport]], designed by [[Eero Saarinen]] in 1958. This terminal exemplifies the dramatic roof slope, large windows, and generous use of concrete, somewhat similar to Saarinen's [[TWA Flight Center]].

==Districts==
[[File:Caribbean Motel NJ.JPG|thumb|right|The Caribbean Motel in [[Wildwood, New Jersey]]'s  [[Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District]]]]
Classic locations for Googie style buildings are [[Miami Beach, Florida]], where secondary commercial structures were adapted from the resort style of [[Morris Lapidus]] and other [[hotel]] designers; the first phase of [[Las Vegas|Las Vegas, Nevada]]; and their birthplace of [[Southern California]].

===Wildwood, New Jersey===
{{main|Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District}}
The beachfront resort town of [[Wildwood, New Jersey]], features an array of motel designs, colorfully described by such sub-styles as Vroom, Pu-Pu Platter, Phony Colonee and more.<ref name="Washington Post">{{cite news |title=The '50s and '60s Thrive In Retro Doo-Wop Motels |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062200682.html |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=June 24, 2007 |access-date=December 10, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wildwooddoowop.com/about/ |title=WildwoodDooWop.com |publisher=WildwoodDooWop.com |access-date=June 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609172456/http://wildwooddoowop.com/about/ |archive-date=June 9, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The district is known collectively as the Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District by the State of New Jersey.<ref name=league>{{cite web |url=http://www.doowopusa.org/district/index.html |title=Doo Wop Preservation League Web site |publisher=Doowopusa.org |access-date=June 25, 2013 |archive-date=February 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202082715/http://doowopusa.org/district/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The term "doo-wop" was used by New Jersey's [[Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts]] during the early 1990s to describe the unique, space-age architectural style. Many of Wildwood's Doo-Wop motels were built by Lou Morey, who specialized in such designs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doowopstuff.com/history.html |title=History Section |publisher=Doowopstuff.com |date=October 29, 2007 |access-date=June 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901132028/http://www.doowopstuff.com/history.html |archive-date=September 1, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His Ebb Tide Motel, built during 1957 and demolished during 2003, is credited as the first Doo-Wop motel in Wildwood Crest.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cresthistory.org/doowop.php |title=Wildwood Crest Historical Society Web site |access-date=December 11, 2008 |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809120212/https://cresthistory.org/doowop.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Decline and preservation==
[[File:JB Demo January 2007.jpg|thumb|left|[[Johnie's Broiler]] after its demolition on January 7, 2007. Many Googie structures have fallen into disrepair or been destroyed. (This one was rebuilt incorporating the surviving architectural elements.)]]
After the 1960s, following the [[Apollo 11]] [[Moon landing]], the rise of [[ecology]] movements against [[nuclear power]], and the de-escalations of the [[Space Race]] and the [[Atomic Age]], Googie began to fall out of style.<ref name="Smithsonian2012"/> The architectural community rarely appreciated or accepted Googie, considering it too flashy and vernacular for academic praise,<ref>Hess 2004, pp. 66–69</ref> and so the architecture of the 1970s, especially the [[International style (architecture)|International Style]], shunned Googie. As Hess notes, beginning during the 1970s, commercial buildings were meant to blend into the urban environment and not attract attention.<ref name="Hess p178">Hess 2004, p. 178</ref> By the mid 1960s, the novelty of Googie was starting to wane and there was a backlash against the flashy style.<ref>Langdon 1986, pp. 108</ref>

Since Googie buildings were usually part of the [[service industries|service industry]], most developers did not think they were worth preserving as cultural artifacts.<ref>Hess 2004, pp. 183–188</ref> The publication of Googie by Alan Hess in 1986 inspired a new appreciation for the style. Despite the humble origins of Googie, Hess writes that, "Googie architecture is an important part of the history of suburbia."<ref>Hess 2004, p. 186</ref> Googie was a symbol of the [[1950s American automobile culture|early days of car culture]].

One of the earliest organizations in the US that advocated for the preservation of Googie architecture was the [[Los Angeles Conservancy]] Modern Committee, which was formed in 1984 in response to the demolition of Ship's coffee shop in Westwood and [[Tiny Naylor's]] Drive-In in Hollywood.<ref>{{cite web| last1=Los Angeles Conservancy| title=ModCom's History| url=https://www.laconservancy.org/explore-la/curating-city/modern-architecture/saving-modern-places/modern-committee/modcoms-history| website=Los Angeles Conservancy| location=Los Angeles}}</ref> Despite the loss of these and the original Googie's in Hollywood, other Googie coffee shops including [[Norms Restaurants]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Parvini|first=Sarah|date=May 20, 2015|title=Norms restaurant designated as L.A. historic monument|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-norms-historic-monument-20150520-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926094552/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-norms-historic-monument-20150520-story.html|archive-date=September 26, 2020}}</ref> [[Johnie's Coffee Shop]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sailant|first=Catherine|date=November 27, 2013|title=Johnie's Coffee Shop named an L.A. landmark by City Council|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-johnies-historic-landmark-20131126-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008204924/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-johnies-historic-landmark-20131126-story.html|archive-date=October 8, 2020}}</ref> and the [[Wich Stand]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chastang|first=Carol|date=April 9, 1995|title=WINDSOR HILLS : Happy Days to Health Food for This Landmark : Renovation: A '50s-style coffee shop, the Wich Stand, gets new life as a Simply Wholesome store|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-09-we-52652-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016222050/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-09-we-52652-story.html|archive-date=October 16, 2020}}</ref> have received historic designations. The world's oldest McDonald's in Downey and the earliest remaining [[Bob's Big Boy]] in Burbank, have also been preserved and restored.<ref>Hess 2004, pp. 184–185.</ref>

In [[Wildwood, New Jersey]], a "Doo Wop Preservation League" works with local business and property owners, city planning and zoning officials, and the state's historic preservation office, to help ensure that the remaining historic structures will be preserved. Wildwood's high-rise hotel district has been the first in the US to enforce "Doo Wop" design guidelines for new construction.<ref name="league"/>

==Neo-Googie architecture==
The architect Michael Hsu designed multiple restaurants for the Austin-based restaurant [[P. Terry's]] in the Googie style. Each location is uniquely designed, featuring oblique shapes, color, and large geometric roofs.<ref name="Structures2018">{{cite web |title=Structures P. Terry's – 32nd and Lamar |url=http://structurestx.com/portfolio/p-terrys/ |website=structurestx.com |date=May 19, 2013 |publisher=Structures |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426001116/http://structurestx.com/portfolio/p-terrys/ |archive-date=April 26, 2017 |location=Austin}}</ref><ref name="Wilder2018">{{cite web |author1=J, Wilder |title=Iconic Googie Gas Station in Waco: Googie Architecture Revival |url=http://www.motortexas.com/doc/googie-gas-station-waco |website=www.motortexas.com |publisher=MotorTexas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203220254/http://www.motortexas.com/doc/googie-gas-station-waco |archive-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref>

==Influence==
Googie architecture developed from the futuristic architecture of [[Streamline Moderne]], extending and reinterpreting technological themes for the new conditions of the 1950s. While 1930s architecture was relatively simple, Googie embraced opulence. Hess argues that the reason for this was that the vision of the future of the 1930s was obsolete by 1950 and thus the architecture evolved along with it. During the 1930s, Streamlined trains and [[Lincoln-Zephyr]]s had been advanced technology, and Streamline Moderne paralleled their smooth simplified aerodynamic exteriors.<ref>Hess 2004, p. 46</ref> That simplicity may have represented the [[Great Depression|Depression]] era's forced frugality.

The eye-catching Googie style flourished in a [[carnival]] atmosphere along multi-lane [[highway]]s, in [[motel]] architecture and above all in [[commercial signage]]. The influence of Googie was prominently seen in the architecture and signage of Los Angeles and Las Vegas circa 1945–1970, where many of the same architects who designed Googie coffee shops in Los Angeles went on to design some of the seminal hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. Private clients were the main patrons of Googie. Ultimately, the style became unfashionable and, over time, numerous examples of the Googie style have either fallen into disrepair or been destroyed completely.

The exaggerated, once-futuristic Googie style exemplified in ''[[The Jetsons]]'' cartoons and the original [[Disneyland]] (which featured a Googie [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]]) gave birth several decades later to [[retrofuturism]]. Googie was also the inspiration for the background art style of animated television series and movies such as ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'', ''[[Futurama]]'', ''[[George Shrinks]]'', ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius]]'', ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]'', and ''[[The Incredibles]]'', as well as the cover of the faux-memoir ''Based on a True Story'' by comedian [[Norm Macdonald]].

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[1950s American automobile culture]]
* [[1964 New York World's Fair]]
* [[Atomic Age (design)]]
* ''[[Colonel Bleep]]''
* ''[[Design for Dreaming]]''
* [[Fantastic architecture]]
* [[Home of the future]]
* [[List of Googie architecture structures (Canada)]], with images
* [[List of Googie architecture structures (United States)]], with images
* [[Miami Modern architecture]]
* [[Novelty architecture]]
* [[Raygun Gothic]]
* [[Space Needle]]
* [[Tiki culture]]
* [[UPA (animation studio)]]
* [[Palos Verdes Bowl]]
* [[Covina Bowl]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Abbott |first=Carl |year=1993 |title=The Metropolitan Frontier: Cities in the Modern American West |url=https://archive.org/details/metropolitanfron00abbo |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=0-8165-1129-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Hess |first=Alan |year=2004 |title=Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYiGA6QNE8sC |publisher=Chronicle Books |page=222 |isbn=978-0811842723 |oclc=249477365 }} (previously published in 1986 as ''Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture'' {{ISBN|978-0877013341}})
* {{cite book |last=Langdon |first=Philip |year=1986 |title=Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDVUAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-54401-3}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
Books are arranged in chronological order by year of publication:
{{Refbegin}}
* ''Learning from Las Vegas'', by [[Robert Venturi]], 1972 ({{ISBN|978-0262720069}})
* ''Populuxe: the Look and Life of Midcentury America'' by Thomas Hine, 1986 ({{ISBN|978-1585679102}})
* ''LA Lost and Found: An Architectural History of Los Angeles'' by Sam Hall Kaplan, 1987, pp.&nbsp;145–155
* ''Southern California in the 50s'' by [[Charles Phoenix]], 2001
* ''Los Angeles Neon'' by Nathan Marsak and Nigel Cox, 2002
* ''Mimo: Miami Modern Revealed'' by Eric P. Nash and Randall C. Robinson, Jr., 2004
* ''The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister'' by Chris Nichols, 2007 ({{ISBN|978-1586856991}})
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Googie architecture}}
{{wiktionary|Googie}}
* [http://www.lottaliving.com/bb Lotta Living] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725023337/http://www.lottaliving.com/bb |date=July 25, 2008 }}, Googie architecture message board for the LAC Modern Committee and Recent Past Preservation Network
* Chris Jepsen. [https://web.archive.org/web/20020802164308/http://www.spaceagecity.com/googie/index.htm Googie Architecture]
* [http://www.roadsidepeek.com/googie/ Roadside Peek: Googie Central]
* [http://www.nywf64.com/ The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair]
* [http://www.photosoftheforgotten.synthetrix.com Synthetrix Photos Of The Forgotten] - Documenting Googie style motels surrounding Disneyland in Anaheim, California
* [http://www.seattledreamhomes.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=308605&NF=1/ Seattle Googie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228041025/http://www.seattledreamhomes.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID%3D308605%26NF%3D1 |date=December 28, 2007 }} - Documenting Googie architecture in Seattle, WA
* [http://www.wildwooddoowop.com/ Wildwood Doo Wop] - Documenting "Doo Wop" (Googie) architecture in Wildwood, NJ
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100615133245/http://www.wildwood.com/doo-wop/ Wildwood, NJ Doo Wop]
* [https://thesatellitehotel.us8.cdn-alpha.com Googie style Satellite Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado]
* [http://standards.phorio.com/?t=definition&code=3506620052 Googie definition] on Phorio Standards
* Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRFfM_FMc8Q "Populuxe in Niagara Falls (feat. Skylon Tower)"]. [[YouTube]]. August 20, 2012.

Preservation groups working to save Googie architecture include

* [https://archive.today/20130113050542/http://modcom.org/ Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee]
* [http://psmodcom.com/ Palm Springs Modern Committee]
* [http://www.doowopusa.org/ Doo Wop Preservation League]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121212020455/http://recentpast.org/ Recent Past Preservation Network]
* [http://www.docomomo-us.org/ DOCOMOMO], Dutch-founded '''DO'''cumentation and '''CO'''nservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the '''MO'''dern '''MO'''vement.
* [http://www.laconservancy.org/ Los Angeles Conservancy home]
* [http://www.johnlautner.org/ John Lautner Foundation], Googie architect site.

{{History of architecture}}
{{Modern architecture}}
{{Architecture in the United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Googie Architecture}}
[[Category:Googie architecture| ]]
[[Category:American architectural styles]]
[[Category:Futurist architecture]]
[[Category:History of Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Modernist architecture]]
[[Category:Retrofuturism]]
[[Category:Space Age]]