Editing Googie architecture (section)

==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.