Googie architecture is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the United States from roughly 1945 to the early 1970s.
Westchester is a neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles and the Westside Region of Los Angeles County, California.
Leimert Park is a neighborhood in the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California.
Crenshaw, or the Crenshaw District, is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles, California.
Crenshaw Boulevard is a north-south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California, United States, that runs through Crenshaw and other neighborhoods along a 23-mile route in the west-central part of the city.
Johnie's Broiler, originally known as Harvey's Broiler and currently operating as Bob's Big Boy Broiler, is a restaurant located in Downey, California that first opened in 1958. From 2002 to 2006, the building and parking lot housed a used car dealership. The building was largely demolished in January 2007. However, the restaurant was reconstructed in 2009 and re-opened as part of the Bob's Big Boy chain, while retaining the original building's look and design. Due to its 1950s Googie style, the restaurant has been featured in several movies and TV shows. As of October 2023, the company operates 3 locations in California. They are now called JB Burgers and are located in Bell Gardens, La Puente, and Monrovia.
Norms Restaurants is a chain of diner-style restaurants in Southern California. Founded in 1949 by used-car salesman Norm Roybark, some restaurants are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As of October 2023, the company operates 21 locations in Greater Los Angeles.
Pann's is a coffee shop restaurant in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, known for its history, role in movies, and distinctive architecture. The restaurant was opened by husband and wife George and Rena Poulos in 1958. It is also known for its neon sign, Googie architecture, and 1950s decor. The building and its iconic neon sign were designed by architects Eldon Davis and Helen Liu Fong of the Armet & Davis architectural firm. Pann's remains one of the best preserved examples of Davis' Googie designs, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Armet Davis Newlove Architects, formerly Armét & Davis, is a Californian architectural firm known for working in the Googie architecture style that marks many distinctive coffee shops and eateries in Southern California. The firm designed Pann's, the first Norms Restaurants location, the Holiday Bowl and many other iconic locations.
Wich Stand was a '50s-style coffee shop restaurant and diner in Los Angeles, California, featuring a tilting blue roof and 35-foot spire (11 m), designed by architect Eldon Davis.
Johnie's Coffee Shop is a former coffee shop and a well-known example of Googie architecture located on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Architects Louis Armét and Eldon Davis of Armét & Davis designed the building, contributing to their reputation as the premier designers of Space Age or Googie coffee shops—including the landmark Pann's coffee shop in Ladera Heights, Norms Restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard, and several Bob's Big Boy restaurants.
Eldon Carlyle Davis was an American architect, considered largely responsible for the creation of Googie architecture, a form of modern architecture originating in Southern California. Googie architecture is largely influenced by Southern California's car culture and the Space Age of the mid-20th century. Davis was a founding partner of the Armet & Davis architectural firm which championed Googie architecture, including the original Norms Restaurant, a Googie coffee shop designed by Davis. For his work, the Los Angeles Times called Davis, "the father of the California coffee shop."
Louis Logue Armét was an American architect and strong proponent of Googie architecture during the mid-twentieth century.
Kona Lanes was a bowling center in Costa Mesa, California, that opened in 1958 and closed in 2003 after 45 years in business. Known for its futuristic design, it featured 40 wood-floor bowling lanes, a game room, a lounge, and a coffee shop that eventually became a Mexican diner. Built during the advent of Googie architecture, its Polynesian-inspired Tiki styling extended from the large roadside sign to the building's neon lights and exaggerated rooflines.
Jack Laxer (1927–2018) was an American photographer best known for his work in stereoscopy. His photographs of California modern architecture have been published in magazines and books, displayed in museums, and included in educational programs since the 1950s. He photographed the homes of Lucille Ball and Harold Lloyd with the Stereo Realist camera. His clients included the architects Paul Revere Williams, William F. Cody, Arthur Froehlich, Ladd & Kelsey, and Armet & Davis, best known for their Googie coffee shops. Beginning in 1951 he documented the designs of Louis Armet and Eldon Davis including Norms, Pann’s, and the Holiday Bowl. These images were included in Alan Hess’s book Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture, setting off a revival of interest in the style beginning in the 1980s.
Corky's was a restaurant in Los Angeles, California's Sherman Oaks neighborhood. It was designed by Armet & Davis and built in 1958. It has a sweeping roofline characteristic of Googie architecture. It was remodeled in the 1970s and has been restored in recent years. It originally opened as Stanley Burke's Coffee Shop on Van Nuys Boulevard and became Corky's in the early 1960s as it transitioned to being open 24-7. Billy Joel played piano at the eatery in the 1970s. After 25 years as Corky's, it became the Lamplighter, and was used in 2010 as a filming location for A Nightmare on Elm Street. The restaurant is now restored and renovated as a renewed Corky's.
Helen Liu Fong was a Chinese-American architect and interior designer from Los Angeles, California. Fong was an important figure in the Googie architecture movement, designing futuristic buildings like Norms Restaurant, the Holiday Bowl, Denny's, Bob's Big Boy, and Pann's Coffee Shop that helped usher in an era of boomerang angles, dynamic forms and neon lights. Fong became one of the first women to join the American Institute of Architects, and worked with Armet and Davis on many of her most well-known projects. Many of Fong's best-known building designs feature large glass fronts and bold colors on interior walls, designed to stand out and entice potential customers.
Googie's Coffee Shop was a small restaurant located at 8100 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles next door to the famous Schwab's Pharmacy at the beginning of the Sunset Strip. It was designed in 1949 by architect John Lautner and lent its name to Googie architecture, a genre of modernist design in the 1950s and 60s. Interest in the style was revived by the 1986 book Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture by Alan Hess.
