Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture

by Alan Hess

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. 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. Yet, as Alan Hess points out, in many ways they were the realization of modern architecture's grand promises. They were populist, employed new materials, and captured their purpose, place, and culture as vividly as any great architectural style. The influential original edition helped to spark a robust preservation movement and kick-started the reappreciation of mid-century architecture and design. 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.

Genres: Architecture, Design, Nonfiction, Art, Art Design, History

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2004

About the author

Born in California in 1952, Hess received his BA at Principia College, a Master's degree in architecture from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, and is a licensed architect. After working with architects William Coburn, and Callister Payne and Bischoff, Hess started his own firm specializing in residential work and historic preservation. His first book, Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture (Chronicle Books 1985) focused on a neglected and popular Modern form. Following books continued to explore overlooked chapters in twentieth-century architecture and urbanism. He is responsible for qualifying several landmark buildings for the National Register of Historic Places, including the oldest operating McDonald's in Downey, Stuart Company Plant and Office Building and Bullock's Pasadena in Pasadena, and the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Reviews

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alas, the Ballard Denny's is not included in this work...But there are many fine examples of 50s coffee shops. I am sad that Whitney will not let me remodel our house in "Googie." I love it. Someday I will install a neon rocketship sign on our roof...

[Isaiah Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute pleasure is a quiet breakfast with the time to flip-the-pages of this book.

[Angie Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expanded version of Googie, most importantly with more pictures!

[David Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideal for those who think Bob's Big Boy in Burbank is akin to the Parthenon, Hess' book demands that midcentury coffee shops, bowling alleys and such be taken seriously as architecture and art. The text is engagingly written -- when he writes that putting a diner's name on adjoining corners of the building was "like Cubist art," he's half-kidding, which helps -- and the photos are a wonder.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fascination with midcentury architecture continues. This book is especially recommended to people interested in southern Californa history as virtually every building in this book is/was located in the LA area.

[MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was leafing through this at Elliot Bay Books in the close-out section, and I couldn't put it down. I'm no architecture expert, but this is enjoyable on many levels. The writing is ok, but the pictures are very very cool.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at mid-20th century roadside architecture in America.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific, beautifully designed book about '40s-'50s architecture, one of a ton of great such design-oriented pubs from Chronicle.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Hess has given mid century roadside stuff not just a name but supplied us with an entire vocabulary of style cues. Excellent photography.