Googie Architecture

Googie Architecture - Named for a long gone coffee shop, Googie Architecture is possibly the easiest architectural genre to recognize, once you see one good example - you know exactly what it is..  The building pictured below is the Cooper Theater, which was demolished to make way for a Barnes and Noble of all things.  At the time of it's opening the Cooper had the worlds largest screen. From Wikipedia: Googie architecture (also known as populuxe or doo-wop) is a form of Novelty architecture and a subdivision of Futurist architecture, influenced by car culture and the Space Age and Atomic Age.  Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon. Googie was also characterized by space-age designs that depict motion, such as boomerangs, flying saucers,atoms, parabolas, and free-form designs such as "soft" parallelograms and the ubiquitous artist's-palette motif. These stylistic conventions reflected American society's emphasis on futuristic designs and fascination with Space Age themes. As with the art deco style of the 1930s, Googie became undervalued as time passed, and many buildings built in this style have been destroyed.