Space age architecture series#

No architect was needed to design your sleek, futuristic home. Googie architecture was accessible to the average American since restaurants, car washes, and bowling alleys were erected in it. Unconventional designs, bright colors, and modern materials like glass, chrome, and plastic were used. The Googie architecture reflected this optimism.

The Googie design incorporated atomic-era futurism together with Populuxe and Doo Wop. It is influenced by the ambitions and aspirations of the Space Age and the visions of rocket ships. In this style, everything is exaggerated, from the angles to the colors to the plastic and steel. Googie is a low-rise architectural style used in restaurants, car washes, bowling alleys, gas stations, drive-in movies, apartment buildings, and single-family residences. Googie buildings have bold geometric designs, upswept roofs, a sense of motion, and a combination of materials from steel to glass to rocks. Googie is a futurist type of architecture that emerged in the mid-20th century in the United States, primarily in Los Angeles and the surrounding suburbs. Googie is a modern or ultramodern architectural style that helps people understand post-WWII American futurism, which many a “golden age” of futurist architecture. Southern California’s Googie architecture is a remarkable example of the modern mid-century style. As a futuristic era loomed, the change to ultramodern architecture was almost unavoidable. The emergence of atomic technology promised an advanced nuclear-powered society, while the space race made people think humans could soon visit the Moon or Mars. Robert McCall’s visions of the future took the Space Age style through to the 21st century.The mid-twentieth century was a pinnacle in American architecture because of the large number of structures influenced by the advancements in the industry, automobile culture, and the space era. Mid-century modern: Lounge Chair by Charles and Ray Eames. The Cinerama Dome in Hollywood opened in 1963, using a geodesic dome design developed by Buckminster Fuller. The Union 76 gas station in Beverly Hills (1965) is considered to be one of the best examples of Googie architecture. This aesthetic later became a component of the Mid-century modern style that is so popular today. The term came from a Los Angeles coffee shop called “Googies.” The architectural style know as “Googie” captures the futuristic atomic/space theme, and for a few decades was widely used in the United States for coffee shops, motels and gas stations. At the entrance was the World Clock.Īnd Disney’s 2015 film of the same name was, naturally, an ode to the Space Age. Photograph by Rui Santosĭisney’s Tomorrowland opened in 1955. Photograph by Thomas WolfeĬapitol Records Building, Los Angeles (1956). The light on the top of the spire blinks “Hollywood” in morse code. Online sources say that it was inspired by “The Jetsons.” Image: Google Street View The KenAnn Building in Fort Lauderdale was built in 1964.

Space age architecture series#

The original series ran from September 1962 to March 1963.

“The Jetsons” captured the Space Age popular aesthetic. (Mega-globes post: ) Photograph by Anthony Conti This is an opportunity to once again show the fantastic Unisphere. The 1964/65 New York World’s Fair sits firmly during the heyday of the style.

Above, Seattle’s Space Needle, built in 1962 for the 21st Century Exposition, which is also known as the Seattle World’s Fair. This followed on from, and overlapped, the Atomic Age, which had a similar kind of golden-future impact. Starting in the late 1950s and carrying on for decades, space exploration was a big influence on design.