Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture

Alan Hess is architecture critic of the San Jose Mercury News and the author of numerous books, including Palm Springs Weekend (0-8118-2804-2) and Rancho Deluxe (0-8118-2420-9). He divides his time between Northern California and Michigan.

Emblematic of Southern California car culture, stylized eateries and other roadside buildings built from the 1930s to the 1950s were dismissed as lowbrow stylistic folly in their heyday. They were populist, employed new materials, and captured their purpose, place, and culture as vividly as any great architectural style. This latest edition features extensive up-to-date research and dozens of rarely seen and newly found photographs. Googie Redux is the definitive document of a style born in California that has spread to all corners of the world.. The influential original edition helped to spark a robust preservation movement and kick-started the reappreciation of mid-century architecture and design. A thoroughly revised and significantly expanded edition of the popular 1980s original, Googie Redux is the authoritative history of the mid-20th century icon that ignited an architectural revolution: the coffee shop. Yet, as Alan Hess points out, in many ways they were the realization of modern architecture's grand promises

He divides his time between Northern California and Michigan. About the Author Alan Hess is architecture critic of the San Jose Mercury News and the author of numerous books, including Palm Springs Weekend (0-8118-2804-2) and Rancho Deluxe (0-8118-2420-9).

Achingly Beautiful Googie was fading by the time I came along, but even in the remote area of the Midwest that I grew up in, its influence was felt. As a child, I didn't know what those slanted roofs and skewered-ball sign spires were called or where they came from, but I found their spacey, cartoonish vibe appealing (if increasingly worn and ill-maintained as the 70s wore on). This book, "Googie Redux," puts "ultramodern roadside architecture" in historical context and tells the stories of the commercial architects who invented Googie, primarily in Southern California. T. Five Stars A great book for fans of this unique architecture. Fun read! Jacquelyn Schmidt I absolutely LOVE this book! I love reading about this era of American history! The Googie space age designs were FUN! I wish more businesses had this design nowadays!