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The 1950's English Rose aluminium kitschen and 1951 restored Aga cooker in our previous home. Collected together from odd and sods across the country.
I like:
The Front Yard/ garden of succulents and Palm Trees,
The Stair Railing, and how the vertical Elements tie into the Stringer.
The Detailing on The Steel "Fence",
And the horizontal window to keep the Peeping-Toms frustrated.
Swingers Coffee Shop
Googie architecture developed in post–World War II Southern California. The name Googie itself comes from a now-demolished coffee shop in West Hollywood, which opened in 1949. Through the '50s and '60s—the space age—Americans watched their country put men into orbit and onto the moon, which inspired the futuristic style. A strong car culture developed around the same time, meaning that it was in a business’s best interest to be visible from a moving a vehicle. Googie buildings have large, bright, and bold signs to draw in potential patrons, and roofs angle up like wings or flying saucers. If built, many of the buildings in The Jetsons would be considered Googie. While the style is light and fun, attracting customers in its heyday, many fine examples have been demolished. Source: Architectural Digest
5 of the Best Googie Buildings in L.A. www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/googie-buildings-la
Boldly curving lines and stark concrete dominate this striking architectural photo of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The image centers on the museum’s inner courtyard and iconic fountain—now empty, exposing its deep mechanical structure like the gears of a machine—set within the circular embrace of Gordon Bunshaft’s modernist building.
Opened in 1974 and named after financier and art collector Joseph H. Hirshhorn, the museum is known for its radical departure from the neoclassical architecture of the National Mall. Designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the cylindrical building’s clean curves and minimalist windows suggest an almost otherworldly presence—a concrete drum that defies convention. The brutalist aesthetic is unmistakable, yet softened here by the organic circularity of the space.
The symmetry in this photo draws the eye inward, emphasizing the sculptural fountain at the center. Radiating ribs in the surrounding stone direct visual flow to the middle, while the upper stories of repeating rectangular windows offer a rigid contrast to the radial lines below. The yellow “WELCOME” banner to the left and the bold “HIRSHHORN” text to the right add bursts of color and contemporary branding, anchoring the institution’s identity amid the concrete.
Visitors appear through the glass corridor behind the fountain—some pausing, some in motion—offering a scale reference and a reminder that this is a living museum. Their presence breathes life into an otherwise monolithic setting, illustrating the museum’s role not only as a home for modern art, but as a vital public gathering space in the heart of D.C.
From the moment it opened, the Hirshhorn Museum has challenged assumptions about what an art museum should be. Its architecture alone is a sculptural work of art—often drawing comparisons to a spacecraft, a fortress, or even a giant doughnut. The building’s shape allows for an uninterrupted gallery loop, with exhibitions wrapping around the perimeter and views periodically opening into the sky-lit courtyard.
The sculpture garden below street level further expands the museum’s reach, offering works by artists such as Rodin, Henry Moore, and Yoko Ono. The museum’s curatorial focus on postwar contemporary art makes it one of the premier destinations for avant-garde, boundary-pushing visual expression in the United States.
This image captures more than just a moment of architecture—it distills the very ethos of the Hirshhorn: forward-thinking, visually striking, and unapologetically modern. It’s a place where art meets infrastructure, where design becomes the experience, and where Washington’s powerfully traditional architecture gives way to fearless experimentation.
Framed by the glassy grid of surrounding office towers, the curved limestone façade of 1100 New York Avenue NW stands as a striking example of Washington, D.C.’s understated flirtation with Art Deco design. Once home to the Greyhound Bus Terminal, this 1940 structure is one of the city’s finest surviving examples of the Streamline Moderne style, with its rounded corners, horizontal emphasis, and stylized vertical elements like the raised lettering that still proudly spells out “1100 NEW YORK AVE.”
Designed by William S. Arrasmith, who created many bus stations for Greyhound during this era, the building originally served as a vital hub for intercity transportation before falling into disuse in the late 20th century. During a major redevelopment of the surrounding block, preservationists successfully lobbied to incorporate the historic terminal into the new office complex. Today, it sits integrated at the base of a larger postmodern office building, its curving walls and corner windows offering a tangible connection to mid-century America’s love affair with speed, motion, and the open road.
Its adaptive reuse is widely regarded as one of D.C.’s more successful examples of historic preservation in a modernizing downtown. Look closely, and you’ll see ghost marks of the original clock above the corner parapet. The American flags hanging nearby subtly echo the building’s past role in connecting cities and states.
Captured here at golden hour, the deco curves of the terminal contrast elegantly with the rectilinear backdrop of mirrored windows, reminding us how public architecture once aspired to uplift even the most utilitarian of civic functions.
Ideal Dinettes on Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn was founded in 1953 when the neighborhood was still had a huge Italian population with many large extended families living in the same household. As Bushwick underwent gentrification in the 2000s, business declined as families moved out of the area and there was less of a need for large “dinette” sets, coupled with the fact that the second-generation owners were getting older and they decided to close their shop in 2008. The saddest part of this story is that the owners knew that we were huge fans of the gorgeous neon sign and before they closed the shop, asked if we wanted to keep it. We live in a small studio in the East Village and could not possibly fit the large sign inside our apartment, let alone carry it up the necessary stairs to our floor so we had to decline their offer. This was before we were active on social media (we didn’t start our Instagram account until 2014) and did not have the large network of friends and followers that we now have and surely now would easily be able to find a great home for this neon sign and the signage ended up being heaped into a dumpster. Our film photo from 2004 and interview with the 2nd-generation owners of Ideal Dinettes appears in our book “Store Front II- A History Preserved”.
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#storefront #jamesandkarla #disappearingfaceofnewyork #neon #neonsigns #neonsignage #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #dinette #kitchendecor #kitchendesign #midcenturystyle #midcenturydesign #midcenturyhome #midcenturyfurniture
Functional art quilt inspired by mid-century design.
Meant to either hang on the wall or displayed on a table.
Made from 100% cotton fabrics from Robert Kaufman's Kona collection.
Measures 16.5 x 16.5.
This is the decorative grille on the stairwell of the hotel where we had lunch in Dire Dawa in southeastern Ethiopia. According to the date in the terazzo on the front steps, the hotel was built in 1964.
This is the only example of secular mid-century design I came across on my visit to Ethiopia.
Businesses featuring southwestern themes like this used to be ubiqutious throughout Arizona. Today, much of Arizona's cityscapes are comprised of modern American monoculture. I apprediciate Kachina's 60+ year old brand asthetic upholding
a bit of desert culture and nostalgia. Don't ever change that sign!
Mid-Century modern architecture in Boston's South End.
A beautiful example from the Mitchell/Giurgola architectural firm with this design for the (new) South End branch of the Boston Public Library.
Based in Philly in the 1960s, Mitchell/Giurgola and the Philadelphia School "challenged doctrinaire modernism with designs and buildings that conceptually recognized their context. Giurgola completed the BPL’s South End library branch in 1971 as he and the Mitchell/Giurgola Architects firm attracted national and international attention for their work."