View allAll Photos Tagged Googie
A 76 gas station in Beverly Hills, CA with a googie designed canopy. (If you don't know what googie is then you'll have to Google googie).
Architect: Gin Wong (William L. Pereira & Assoc.)
Location: Beverly Hills, CA
The architect didn't know he was designing a gas station. This canopy was designed for LAX. But when it wasn't needed, it was moved to this location, to be part of this service station on Crescent in Beverly Hills.
You may purchase a copy of this photo as a poster or framed print HERE.
Hollingsworth Motel, 505 East Pacific Street, Lexington, Nebraska. This motel was built in 1946, although this sign was put up later. The motel is no longer in business.
ah the golden olden days of fabulous neon signs in barstow, calif. route 66.
Googie architecture. Main Street, Barstow.
There is so little googie left in Ottawa and I've been meaning to take a photo of this one for ages. This was the old civic pharmacy on Carling. They've incorporated this bit into the new sign for the "medicine shoppe"...(I cut that hideous part out) it really doesn't go together very well but at least they've left this bit in tact...
A lady Googie footer riding a longboard at the Alley Gold Coast. She looked as if she was haveing fun and photogenic.
Googie Capitol of the East Coast
The Byrne Building is the former Surf Side Restaurant/now museum. The restaurant was built in 1963.
The El Camino in Socorro, New Mexico is a great diner with good food, including excellent New Mexico food.
But the fun part is that this cafe was designed in the "Googie" era and still shows many characteristics. For instance, the sign outside is pure Googie.
Googie explained:
"Googie architecture was born of the post-WWII car-culture and thrived in the 1950s and 1960s. Bold angles, colorful signs, plate glass, sweeping cantilevered roofs and pop-culture imagery captured the attention of drivers on adjacent streets. Bowling alleys looked like Tomorrowland. Coffee shops looked like something in a Jetsons cartoon. "
ochistorical.blogspot.com/2017/07/bobs-big-boy-harbor-blv...
Image taken using Open Camera, and processed with GIMP.
The Lorraine Motel was forever etched in America’s collective memory with the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, but even before that fateful day, the property at 450 Mulberry Street had a fascinating history in its own right. Before it was the Lorraine, it was the Marquette Hotel that catered to black clientele in segregated Memphis. Then, in 1945 black businessman Walter Bailey purchased the hotel, which he re-christened the Lorraine after his wife Loree and the popular jazz song, “Sweet Lorraine.” The motel became a destination for blacks and appeared in the Negro Motorists Green Book or “Green Guide,” which identified establishments that welcomed black travelers when Jim Crow restrictions offered limited options for services and lodging.
Over the next two decades, the Lorraine added a second floor and almost thirty more rooms, in addition to drive-up parking, large front windows, and a swimming pool. The Lorraine’s new design reflected the Space Age-inspired Googie style (geometric shapes and bright colors) that was popular in California in the fifties and sixties. The Lorraine’s sign, with its turquoise frame, yellow oval, and white circles is an excellent example of this trend. With its stylized exterior, excellent café, and superior service, the motel hosted more than just travelers; the Lorraine was also the site of important business meetings and celebratory gatherings, such as weddings.
The Lorraine was the preferred stop for many blacks who came to Memphis. Its guestbook was a veritable who’s who of black celebrities in the forties, fifties, and sixties. Entertainers like Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding were all guests at the motel, and two famous songs, Wilson Pickett’s “The Midnight Hour” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” were both composed at the Lorraine. Negro League baseball greats like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson stayed at the Lorraine when they were in Memphis. It was also preferred by important figures in the black business and political communities. And, Martin Luther King, Jr. stayed there on his trips to Memphis.
The Lorraine Motel reflected the monumental changes experienced by blacks in postwar America well before that moment in 1968 outside room 306 cemented the building’s place in American history.
All information above was borrowed from the following website:
www.civilrightsmuseum.org/news/posts/the-famous-lorraine-...
The Lorraine is included in the South Main Street Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 9, 1999.
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the link below:
Ivan at Roys Cafe & Motel , an abandoned Rt. 66 relic in the postmodern ghosttown of Amboy California
Out in the land of dance and song, of make-believe and harsh realities, Bob's Big Boy Burgers welcomes believers into its warm bubble of Googie 50s diner goodness. Built in 1949, this location is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in the U.S.
The crescent moon adds an accent to this blue hour shot of the Googie architecture of the old bolwing alley. I did remove a distracting box in this shot with Photoshop to make this more of an artistic impression. Shot this both vertical & horizontal versions and would love to hear wich one you prefer and why?
Lunar Motors - Drive into a new age!
A 1960s inspired car showroom with mid century architecture style such as Googie, space age and atomic elements.
The interior is built to be removed as shown. A mid 60's car is the showroom centrepiece along with some office desks and a seating area. Some mid century patterned walls also feature.
Cheers!
A Bakersfield institution, Zingo's Cafe is still serving up good food. Their cool neon signage is practically a Highway 99 landmark.
John 14:6
This is still a working gas station, but now the sign makes a statement for the times we live in.
Independence, Missouri 2006
Built between 1959 and 1962, this Modern Futurist and Googie building was designed by Eero Saarinen and Associates for Trans World Airlines to serve as a Flight Center, or Terminal headhouse, for their passenger services at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The building is an example of thin shell construction, with a parabolic and curved sculptural concrete roof and concrete columns, with many surfaces of the building's structure and exterior being tapered or curved. The building also appears to take inspiration from natural forms, with the roofs appearing like the wings of a bird or bat taking flight. The building served as a passenger terminal from 1962 until 2001, when it was closed.
The building's exterior is dominated by a thin shell concrete roof with parabolic curves, which is divided by ribs into four segments, with the larger, symmetrical north and south segments tapering towards the tallest points of the exterior walls, and soar over angled glass curtain walls underneath. At the ends of the four ribs are Y-shaped concrete columns that curve outwards towards the top and bottom, distributing the weight of the roof structure directly to the foundation. The east and west segments of the roof are smaller, with the west roof angling downwards and forming a canopy over the front entrance with a funnel-shaped sculptural concrete scupper that empties rainwater into a low grate over a drain on the west side of the driveway in front of the building, and the east roof angling slightly upwards, originally providing sweeping views of the tarmac and airfield beyond. The exterior walls of the building beneath the sculptural roof consist of glass curtain walls, with the western exterior wall sitting to the east of the columns and the eastern exterior wall being partially comprised of the eastern columns, with the curtain wall located in the openings between the columns. To the east and west of the taller central section are two half crescent-shaped wings with low-slope roofs, with a curved wall, integrated concrete canopy, tall walls at the ends, and regularly-spaced door openings. To the rear, two concrete tubes with elliptical profiles formerly linked the headhouse to the original concourses, and today link the historic building to the new Terminal 5 and Hotel Towers.
Inside, the building features a great hall with a central mezzanine, and features curved concrete walls and columns, complex staircases, aluminum railings, ticket counters in the two halls to either side of the front entrance, a clock at the center of the ceiling, and skylights below the ribs of the roof. The space features penny tile floors, concrete walls and built-in furniture, red carpeting, and opalescent glass signage. On the west side of the great hall, near the entrance, is a curved concrete counter in front of a large signboard housed in a sculptural concrete and metal shell that once displayed departing and arriving flights. On the north and south sides of this space are former ticket counters and baggage drops, which sit below a vaulted ceiling, with linear light fixtures suspended between curved sculptural concrete piers that terminate some ways below the ceiling. To the east of the entrance is a staircase with minimalist aluminum railings, beyond which is a cantilevered concrete bridge, with balconies and spaces with low ceilings to either side, off which are several shops, restrooms, and telephone booths. On the east side of the bridge is a large sunken lounge with red carpet and concrete benches with red upholstered cushions, surrounded by low concrete walls that feature red-cushioned benches on either side, sitting below a metal analog signboard mounted to the inside of the curtain wall. To the north and south of the lounge are the entrances to the concrete tubes that once provided access to the concourses, which are elliptical in shape, with red carpeted floors and white walls and a white ceiling. On the mezzanine are several former lounges and a restaurant, which feature historic mid-20th Century finishes and fixtures.
The complex includes two contemporary hotel towers, the Saarinen and Hughes wings, which were designed carefully to harmonize with the original building and match its character. The two wings feature concrete end walls, curved Miesian glass curtain walls, and interiors with red carpeting, wooden paneling, brass fittings and fixtures, and white walls and ceilings. The only substantial modification to the structure's significant interior spaces was the puncturing of the two concrete tubes to provide access to these towers. The former terminal also features several service areas that were not previously open to visitors, which today house a massive fitness center, a cavernous underground conference center, and various meeting rooms and ballrooms, with all of these spaces, except the fitness center, being redesigned to match the mid-20th Century modern aesthetics of the rest of the building, with new fixtures, furnishings, and finishes that are inspired directly by the time period in which the building was built, and are nearly seamless in appearance with the rest of the building.
The fantastic building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1994, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Between 2005 and 2008, the new Terminal 5, occupied by JetBlue, was built, which wraps the structure to the east, and was designed by Gensler, and was carefully placed so as to avoid altering or damaging the character-defining features of the historic terminal. Between 2016 and 2019, the building was rehabilitated in an adaptive reuse project that converted it into the TWA Hotel, which was carried out under the direction of Beyer Blinder Belle, Lubrano Ciavarra Architects, Stonehill Taylor, INC Architecture and Design, as well as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and MCR/Morse Development. The hotel features 512 guest rooms, large event spaces, a rooftop pool at the top of the Hughes Wing, a large basement fitness center, and a Lockheed Constellation L-1649A "Connie" on a paved courtyard to the east of the building, which houses a cocktail lounge. The hotel is heavily themed around the 1960s, and was very carefully designed to preserve the character of this iconic landmark.
The Stardust building-front display set a new standard for Strip spectaculars when installed by YESCO in 1958. The 217-ft. long by 27-ft. high facade was mounted on 12 steel columns and not attached to the building. The "earth" sphere may have been the largest plastic globe ever constructed (up to that time). It was located st the point where a break occurs in the V-shaped background, a detail not evident in this view. The fabricated metal, plastic, and neon display required over 30,000 feet of wiring to light its nearly 11,000 electric lamps and 7,000 feet of neon... Designer: Kermit Wayne
Photograph by Nepwork Photos
Scanned from the book "The Magic Sign" by Chuck Barnard
ST Publications, 1993
Page 90
I love this sign and have taken photos of it in daylight. On a scouting trip, I had gone by it very late at night a few days before the 13th and the lights were off. On the 13th at about 10:30 pm I was over at the city hall photographing. I was very hungry and had to use the bathroom with considerable urgency. The police station bathroom was locked! On the way to McDonald's on Colima and Whittier Blvd, I passed this sign and was pleasantly surprised to find the lights were on. They have two signs at this location but this one is the only one that any lights are working on. Knowing that the lights will probably be turned off at any minute I ignored nature's call to get this shot. It is such a shame that the neon tubes have been removed from the palm tree area of the sign. You can see what it looks like Thomas Hawk took a shot in 2011 when the lights were working. The red color comes from the neon tubes. It was very difficult to expose this properly. I had to take one exposure for the dark palm tree area and one for the bright neon tubes. They were combined in post.