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Googie Architecture

Postwar and Late Modern Architecture

Googie architecture is a type of futurist commercial architecture, influenced by car culture, jet aircraft, and the Atomic Age and Space Age, that originated in Southern California out of the 1930s Streamline Moderne style and remained popular in the United States from roughly 1945 into the early 1970s. The style became especially associated with roadside businesses catering to a car driving public, including motels, coffee shops and gas stations, designed to catch a driver's eye at speed. Its name comes from the now defunct Googies Coffee Shop in Hollywood, designed by the architect John Lautner. Googie buildings channeled the era's fascination with speed, technology and the space age into their design through motifs including the boomerang shape, sharp diagonals, atomic burst starbursts and bright, saturated colors, giving roadside commercial buildings a deliberately futuristic, attention grabbing character.

Facts
Period
1945 to 1970 1
Origin Region
Southern California, United States 1
Googie Architecture
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Influenced By

Mid-century Googie architecture evolved from Streamline Moderne with added Space Age and atomic-era motifs.

Notable Examples

Source Wikipedia: Theme Building
Source Wikipedia: Space Needle
Source TWA Flight Center (Wikipedia)
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Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture, lead section (start year)
    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.
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture, lead section (end year)
    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.
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture, lead section (origin region)
    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.
View the Source
TWA Flight Center (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationNotable Examples: TWA Flight Center, Architecture section, on the design styles
Quote, Notable Examples: TWA Flight Center, Architecture section, on the design styles
The design incorporates elements of the Futurist, Neo-futurist, Googie, and Fantastic architectural styles.
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Wikipedia: Theme Building
Notable Examples: LAX Theme Building, Infobox, architecture
Quote, Notable Examples: LAX Theme Building, Infobox, architecture
architecture: Mid-century modern, Googie
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Wikipedia: Space Needle
WikipediaNotable Examples: Space Needle, Wikipedia categories
Quote, Notable Examples: Space Needle, Wikipedia categories
Category:Googie architecture
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