California Crazy: American Pop Architecture

by Jim Heimann

In this vivid new examination of a rogue architectural style, discover the roadside structures of California. Fresh discoveries and several pictorial essays explore how these buildings became synonymous with the West Coast and how the power of personal expression championed any architectural establishment with structures eccentric, innovative, and bizarre.

Genres: Architecture, Photography, Nonfiction, Travel, Art

324 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1980

Reviews

[Thijs Werkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een interessant boek als je geïnteresseerd bent in architectuur. Het boek is verrassend, informatief en uniek. Ik heb genoten van de ‘crazy Californië’ foto’s van de unieke gebouwen uit dit boek. Maar het verrassendst vond ik nog wel de informatie over hoe deze architectuur is ontstaan en waarom het misschien wel ondergewaardeerd is in deze tijd.

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains that California was settled with the vehicle in mind so structures were built to catch the eyes of customers. Includes eateries, homes, vehicles, and studio back lots. Insightful.

[Rafeeq O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Heimann's 2018 California Crazy: American Pop Architecture, the expanded version published "almost 40 years" after "[t]he modest little book" of "the first edition" (2018 Taschen hardcover, page 21), is a thoroughly entertaining 5-star read. A large coffee table book of a good 300-plus pages on heavy glossy paper, the tome contains five essays on the history and development of wild California roadside architecture from early in the automobile era through the 1950s, one rather more elevated and theoretical essay by David Gebhard, and a large appendix of books and articles for those interested in further research. Unlike some of the Taschen works with trilingual text, this one eschews German and French and sticks solely to English--that's just fine, though, since otherwise the piece would have grown cumbersomely huge indeed.

The most memorable component of the book, of course, is its staggering plethora of photographs and occasionally drawings of all these crazy buildings. Some structures are shaped like dogs or pigs or birds, and others like ships or aircraft or coffee cups or barrels, while still more are fashioned with the naivety of completely unselfconscious cultural appropriation as supposed Chinese temples, Moorish fortresses, Native American dwellings, or storybook castles or cottages. This visual treasure trove reflects a time of outlandish exuberance and optimism long since vanished.

In short, regardless of whether the gasoline-driven expansion and the nearly unchecked commercialism of the day ultimately brought good or ill, Heimann's gorgeous California Crazy will be an informative and nostalgic joy for anyone interested in United States architecture or automobile culture of the early Twentieth Century.

[Michael Harring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic resource for quirky California architecture. The core essay that coins the term programmatic architecture is rambling and alternates between awe and condescension for these structures, trying to frame them in the world of high end architecture, without understanding that architectural trends are irrelevant and completely out of reach for more than 99% of the population, while mass affordable trends go largely ignored by the trend watchers. Rather than over intellectualizing, it would have been wonderful to hear more from the creators of these structures to understand what they were trying to achieve, how it was or wasn’t successful and the stories behind their disappearance. There are some anecdotes, but the authors don’t seem to want to engage with their subject in anything other than clinical and removed fascination. But aside from that rant on the text, this really is a wonderful photographic collection of these structures that will delight anyone with a passing interest in the subject.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoot Hoot I Scream: http://futurestudio.typepad.com/photo...

Shutter Shack: http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?l...

Toed Inn: https://calisphere.org/item/e9b5416d6...

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book so much! I only wish there were more essays/anecdotes.

[Karl H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of these bulidings. Long gone.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spectacular flights of fantastic architecture with photos, location if known and date if known. Nice introduction positioning the unique field within art, culture, economics, and history and great bibliography for further reading. Includes map of existing Los Angeles area buildings in place at time of publication - would be a nice followup to see what's happened to the buildings since then.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This rating is for the Taschen edition.)