Googie (and related style and design)

IdleRich

IdleRich
An architecture style that fascinates me. Perhaps because, as far as I know, examples outside of the US are few and far between (off the top of my head can't think of one such building in the UK). And, again as far as I know, there haven't been any revivals or neo-googie or anything like that. And also, like everyone else I guess, I dig Deco and Internaional Moderne styles... so of course the trashy plastic low version of it is bound to appeal to me.

The name is probably not that well known - but as soon as you see one thing you will instantly know exactly what I'm on about. A style most associated with diners - made of both curved and jagged shapes, boomerangs and representations of the atom are common themes.

I think googie was someone's nickname and they owned or at least gave their name to a restaurant in the atomic age style - and ultimately they gave their name to the style itself

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So yeah, it was perfect for diners, bowling alleys and drive-in cinemas. Big and flashy so you could see it from the road in the age of the motor-car.

But not just teenage hang-outs - Theme Building LAX

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Chemosphere private residence in LA (and Lautner did another one similar to this - think it was a solution to the plot of land that was sold for next to nothing cos they thought it wouldn't be possible to build on)


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In fact, I think the look I like is maybe not so much googie buildings, but the interior and the plastic fashion that (I imagine) goes along with it, though I don't know if that is even technically called googie. As a rule, I think dressing like someone from a past age is kinda silly - sure one can maybe use elements of various styles from the past but (as I've no doubt said before) dressing completely in period costume as a rockabilly or teddy boy or something just doesn't make sense to me. But, that said, when you see pictures of people in space age style then I can imagine someone wearing it today - probably cos it's so ridiculous that I don't think anyone ever really wore it (did they?) and thus if one were to wear it, it could still be seen as a new style.

Pierre Cardin was associated with the look I suppose

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And speaking of Cardin he had that famous and ridiculous house

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Who wouldn't want to live in that place or the chemosphere house above and sink into this chair

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Mix up some cocktails in your shaker thing while listening to quadrophonic space age sounds on this record player (they have one of these for sale in a record shop in Lisbon - it's not that expensive, but it is a bit knackered).


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Or maybe this one

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What music though?



This feels right to me but it's just a guess really



I've got this record somewhere (but it's mainly spoken word)



The plastic fashion is perfect for weird sunglasses

Renard Space Age sunglasses

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Renard Space Age sunglasses

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And of course there is one famous town built entirely in the googie style

The Jetsons



So... show me some more cool buildings, especially in the UK or Europe... or Africa. Not in LA basically. Tell me what the men wore, space age fashion always seems to be for girls. Teach me more about music. Show me furniture and accessories and explain to me why it went away and never came back.
 
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IdleRich

IdleRich
Did anyone ever see Qui Etes Vous Polly Magoo?? Images famous from a billion flyers but I've never seen the thing and I don't even know what it's about.


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Imagery is certainly striking...
 

Leo

Well-known member
50s modern, right? US had a ton of it, but I think Italy was also known for that design aesthetic.
 

catalog

Well-known member
So... show me some more cool buildings, especially in the UK or Europe... or Africa. Not in LA basically. Tell me what the men wore, space age fashion always seems to be for girls. Teach me more about music. Show me furniture and accessories and explain to me why it went away and never came back.
Have you heard of superstudio rich? 60s/70s Italian architecture studio and while I'm not sure if they ever made a building (I'm sure they did) they are famous for their conceptual designs eg

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IdleRich

IdleRich
50s modern, right? US had a ton of it, but I think Italy was also known for that design aesthetic.
Going by wikipedia I think you're about on the money with the dates. Dunno anything about the Italian take on it - if you can enlarge on that it would be great.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Have you heard of superstudio rich? 60s/70s Italian architecture studio and while I'm not sure if they ever made a building (I'm sure they did) they are famous for their conceptual designs eg

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Oh, the name does sort of ring a bell, but just barely. Does this tie in with what @Leo was saying or totally unrelated?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I think it's worth seeing more of Pierre Cardin's house - it's fucking ludicrous, imagine living like that.

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Three hundred and thirty six million dollars he sold it for apparently. Not sure when.

I dunno who owns it now, but I wonder... are they really happy eh? Are they?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm particularly keen to learn about the men's version of the space age fashions above. As far as I can tell women seemed to wear mini-skirts or even one piece type things that end in a mini-skirt, possibly called a mini-dress I dunno, and I assume that was made out of some kind of space age fabric. Hair appears to be a bob or some other sort of short cut that can be potentially fixed in place and the whole thing accessorised with sunglasses that even I would consider ludicrous, heavily applied make up and blank or robotic expressions. But the men...? I've no idea, I guess the fabrics were sort of modern in the 50s ones but beyond that can't even guess... Star Trek style onesies?
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
I think it's worth seeing more of Pierre Cardin's house - it's fucking ludicrous, imagine living like that.

Doesn't it make you feel a bit cheated, though? It's 2022, we were all supposed to be living like that by now, not in smaller and messier facsimiles of the houses we grew up in.

Just makes me think of Chtcheglov again: "That’s all over. You’ll never see the hacienda. It doesn’t exist."
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Yes and no... I mean, did anyone really ever believe that we would live like that? I'm not sure that even those who said it actually did... so not believing in it I wasn't that disappointed.
 

william_kent

Well-known member
some contemporary designs that may fit the aesthetic?

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sofa by Philip Grass 2011-ish

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loopy chair by Phillip Grass 2011-ish

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Küre table & chairs by Fatih Can Saröz

the chairs can be pushed together:

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this Sonic chair advertises itself as "sit inside sound"

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this garden furniture from 2008, Obelisk by Dedon, has the shapes but, in my opinion, the material is wrong ( synthetic wicker ), but from a distance looks good - the chairs and table can be stacked to form the missile shaped thing

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william_kent

Well-known member
the UK TV series UFO from the 70s featured a low rent version of the aesthetic

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trivia: that's Nick Drake's sister, Gabrielle, in the wig
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
some contemporary designs that may fit the aesthetic?

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sofa by Philip Grass 2011-ish

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loopy chair by Phillip Grass 2011-ish

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Küre table & chairs by Fatih Can Saröz

the chairs can be pushed together:

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this Sonic chair advertises itself as "sit inside sound"

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this garden furniture from 2008, Obelisk by Dedon, has the shapes but, in my opinion, the material is wrong ( synthetic wicker ), but from a distance looks good - the chairs and table can be stacked to form the missile shaped thing

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I agree with you on the material - I mean, maybe it's more sustainable or robust or simply cheaper but Barbarella would never have a wicker spaceship would she.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I guess that Contact has something of the aesthetic in the video


And musically the next thing I think of after that is often this



 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Did anyone ever go in a shop called LNCC in Dalston, it's a clothes shop but kinda hidden I think invitation only. My friend played a gig there and they offered him a discount but even so he could only afford socks. When you go in you feel like you are in 2001

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william_kent

Well-known member
some of those John Lautner buildings are incredible

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Elrod House ( as featured in Diamonds are Forever )

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Elrod House

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Sheats Goldstein Residence



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Sheats Goldstein Residence ( I once watched a youtube tour of this one, Goldstein has plastered the walls with pictures of himself - he added a club space and then ruined it by putting a huge photo of him dressed as a cowboy on one of the walls )

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Arrango Residence

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Arrango Residence

 
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