List of Googie architecture structures (United States) | |
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This is a list of Googie architecture structures in the United States which includes a photographic gallery with a brief description of some of the structures. Googie was an original architectural style which began in Southern California during the 1940s. Influenced by the coming of the Space Age, the Googie-themed architecture popularity was most notable from the mid-1940s to early 1970s, among motels, coffee houses and gas stations. The term "Googie" comes from a now defunct coffee shop and cafe built in West Hollywood[1] designed by John Lautner.[2][3]
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.