Editing Googie architecture (section)

{{Short description|20th-century American architectural style}}
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{{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]]. 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]]).