Archinect - News

The glory days of fast food architecture may be gone forever

2023-02-21T19:10:00-05:00

Goodbye bright colors and unusual shapes. Today, the design is minimal and sleek. Most fast-food restaurants are built to maximize efficiency, not catch motorists’ attention. One critic has called this trend “faux five-star restaurants” intended to make customers forget they are eating greasy fries and burgers. The chains now sport nearly identical looks. Call it the gentrification of fast-food design.

The psychologically manipulative color schemes may remain, but fast food’s once-iconic Googie and mid-century modern designs are quickly being swapped out for more monolith structures. Changes caused by the pandemic and technology are the largest factors, along with the rise in popularity of drive-thru-only chains.

If it goes on unabated, the America your children grow up in could become one vast dystopic warren of bland 5-over-1s, converted strip malls, Amazon fulfillment centers, these unhealthy slat facade Wendy’s stores, and the occasional mass timber luxury tower attainable exclusively to the very rich and well-connected.

Tulsa's unique 'Jetsons House' flew off the market faster than Elroy could blink

2022-07-13T14:46:00-04:00

Tulsa hosts a building that looks a lot like George and Jane Jetsons’ home in the cartoon, or perhaps a squat version of Seattle’s Space Needle – shaped like a wheel on its side perched on a stick. The house recently hit the market, with an asking price of $415,000. But unfortunately for any time travelers, it has already been snapped up.

The brainchild of local duo Joe Damer and Jeremy Perkins (who is a licensed architect) has only been on the market since the last week of June and was reportedly purchased by someone looking to convert the 17-year-old home into what promises to be one of Airbnb’s many unique short-term rentals.

Interior image via the realtor listing, courtesy Chinowth & Cohen Realtors.

The 1,386-square-foot Googie design features a 44-foot lift and contributes to the eccentric architecture of the otherwise Art Deco-rich region, which includes other unique designs like the Cave House and BOK Tower, in addition to figures like late University of Oklahoma professor Bruce Goff, who now has his own dedicated annual festival.

A populist triumph over museum elites? Craig Hodgetts takes on the Petersen Automotive Museum

2016-03-11T13:42:00-05:00

That the skin is an exercise in advanced digital fabrication, applied with such élan is, in itself, a proclamation, a sort of late-career renaissance, which thrusts the firm into a next generation spotlight. Whether naively assuming (wrongly) that Los Angeles was ready for a jolt of architectural electricity, or sincerely reflecting a populist genre (rightly), Kohn succeeded in outflanking its neighbors, and disrupting the conventions governing the museum establishment.

Craig Hodgetts, leader of UCLA's 2015 Hyperloop Suprastudio and former automotive designer, takes a contrarian view on the Petersen's widely critically-maligned redesign. We also spoke with Craig on the podcast about his views on transportation's future – take a listen for some context alongside his thoughts on the Petersen.

Want more Googie goodness? Check out our review of the Petersen, and more related news on Archinect:

The creative fight to save a masterpiece of Lexington modernism from the wrecking ball

2015-11-19T12:03:00-05:00

Built in 1962, the People’s Bank has distinct glossy, off-teal bricks and a sawtooth, vaulted rooftop. The building is not only one of the finest remaining examples of Googie commercial architecture in Kentucky — it is one of the finest examples in the nation. However, after years of neglect, locals are working to ensure that the building isn’t leveled into a movie theater parking lot.

Related in the Archinect news:

Los Angeles' famously Googie Norms to become focal point in new "community of shops"

2015-03-16T18:21:00-04:00

Developer Jason Illoulian of Faring Capital is the new owner of the land under the restaurant and its 43 parking spaces ... his plan: To build a “community of shops” where the parking lot now stands. [...] “It’s such a beautiful building and that sign is just like fucking awesome,” he says. Will there be room in this new village for an $11.99 steak dinner? “We’re hoping to keep it as a 24- hour diner,” says Illoulian of the restaurant space. “Whether it’s Norms or somebody else.”

This upcoming Thursday, the Cultural Heritage Commission will decide whether the La Cienega Norms that faced imminent demolition back in January will be given monument status. Meanwhile, development plans for the site are chugging along. Developer Jason Illoulian, who purchased the site back in December, is working with Hodgetts + Fung to design a "community of shops" as infill in Norms' parking lot. The "background building" around the Norms structure would eat up parking on the site, drastically affecting the restaurant's accessibility. According to Mike Colonna, Norms' president, "Parking is a primary issue for us. We’re not a high end restaurant where you could valet park your car and take an elevator to the third floor.”

Even if the building is declared a historic monument, the diner-institution of Norms may no longer be a good fit for the neighborhood, according to Craig Hodgetts of Hodgetts + Fung: “Norms is not a good fit on La Cienega,” says Hodgetts. “It’s not appropriate. ...

The sky is falling! Weekly News Round-Up for January 12, 2015

2015-01-19T18:05:00-05:00

Friday, January 16:

Architecture for Humanity to shut down: The San Francisco HQ has laid off all employees and will file for bankruptcy, however it's unclear how this will affect operations of the many national/international AfH outposts that function through volunteers.
Work at Manhattan's 432 Park Ave tower ordered to stop after pipe falls from 81st floor: The latest in a recent series of similar incidents, including a bolt falling from London's cheesegrater, falling art in Mons, the 2015 European Capital of Culture, and concrete panels dropping from Zaha Hadid's library in Vienna.

Thursday, January 15:

Norm's Coffee Shop, an LA Googie icon, is temporarily saved from demolition: Along with the first Taco Bell being in peril of demolition, part of southern California's architectural heritage is being considered.

Wednesday, January 14:

Jean Nouvel boycotts opening of his Philharmonie de Paris: Despite the restaurant and exhibition space not being fully complete, Nouvel's Philharmonie hel...

Norm's Coffee Shop, an LA Googie icon, is temporarily saved from demolition

2015-01-15T21:05:00-05:00

At a hearing earlier today, Los Angeles’ Culture Heritage Commission voted to consider granting Historic-Cultural Monument status to Norms Coffee Shop on La Cienega. This would protect the iconic building in the Googie modern style until a final decision is made by the commission. According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, the new owners of Norms were issued a demolition permit on January 5, triggering a wave of outrage from architectural preservationists.

Googie: Architecture of the Space Age

2012-06-15T14:58:00-04:00

Googie was used as a deragatory term almost from the start — born in Southern California and named for a West Hollywood coffee shop designed in 1949 by John Lautner, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Architecture critic Douglas Haskell was the first to use “Googie” to describe the architectural movement, after driving by the West Hollywood coffee shop and finally feeling like he had found a name for this style that was flourishing in the postwar era.

Eldon Davis dies at 94

2011-04-25T23:26:04-04:00

Davis incorporated aerodynamic designs into his whimsical midcentury coffee shops, including the original Norms on La Cienega Boulevard in L.A. and Pann's near Westchester, to attract passing motorists.

Googie pioneer, Eldon Davis, has died at the age of 94.