What is Googie architecture? Unpacking the retro-futuristic style inspiring Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’

As we eagerly await the film’s release on July 24, it presents the perfect opportunity to explore the fascinating world of Googie architecture–a style that once defined America’s vision of tomorrow and continues to inspire designers, filmmakers, and dreamers today.

Googie architecture came about during a unique convergence of cultural forces: the Atomic Age, with its promise of nuclear-powered progress; the Space Race, ignited by Sputnik’s launch in 1957; and America’s burgeoning car culture. 

It was an era when the future seemed limitless, capturing the nation’s imagination with unprecedented optimism and technological excitement, and naturally, this was reflected in the architecture and design of the time.

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Named after Googie’s Coffee Shop in Hollywood, which was designed by mid-century modernist master John Lautner, Googie architecture emerged from the sun-soaked highways of Southern California as an evolution of the 1930s Streamline Moderne architectural style. 

Googie architecture embraced exuberance and theatricality, transforming mundane commercial spaces into portals to tomorrow in keeping with the zeitgeist of the mid-1940s to early 1970s.

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The architectural design was originally applied to everyday commercial buildings–diners, gas stations, motels, and bowling alleys–designed to catch the eye of motorists speeding down America’s expanding highway system. 

These structures used futuristic forms and brilliant neon signage to stand out in the bustling landscape of mid-century America, making the future feel tangible and accessible to ordinary people.

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Unlike the streamlined elegance of Art Deco that preceded it, or the more restrained International Style that would later dominate architecture, Googie architecture celebrated exuberance.

Where Streamline Moderne emphasised horizontal lines and nautical themes, Googie reached skyward: bold geometric shapes and sweeping angular curves, upswept rooflines that seemed to defy gravity, and cantilevered designs that suggested motion and flight.

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Where Art Deco favoured geometric ornamentation, Googie embraced organic, atomic-inspired shapes that conveyed motion and technological advancement.

The style utilised steel, glass, and concrete, sometimes combined with raw boulders for a sleek yet playful aesthetic. 

Space-age motifs–starbursts, boomerangs, atoms, and rocket-inspired forms–reflected the era’s fascination with science and exploration, while bright, colourful neon signage and illumination with futuristic fonts and shapes conveyed excitement, progress, and an unwavering belief in a hopeful future.

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Architectural firm Armét & Davis–later known as Armet Davis Newlove Architects, became the undisputed masters of Googie commercial architecture, earning the nickname “the Frank Lloyd Wright of ‘50s coffee shops” for their pioneering designs that epitomised the exuberance of mid-century American car culture and Space Age fascination.

Among their most celebrated works is Pann’s Coffee Shop in Los Angeles, designed by firm architect Helen Liu Fong in 1958. It features a distinctive angular, multi-coloured rock roof that creates a bold geometric silhouette, floor-to-ceiling glass panels supported by slender vertical steel mullions, and a prominent neon pole sign angled upward from the roof.

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Equally iconic is Johnie’s Coffee Shop from 1956, with its dramatic upswept roof extending outward like a wing and expansive glass walls. This cultural landmark has appeared in numerous films including Volcano, The Big Lebowski, American History X, City of Angels, and Gone in 60 Seconds, serving as a symbol of the golden age of Googie architecture.

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For decades, Googie architecture was dismissed as commercial kitsch, leading to widespread demolition as architectural tastes shifted toward the International Style. However, recent years have seen a notable shift in attitudes, with several magnificent examples surviving as monuments to mid-century optimism today. 

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Among the preserved Googie structures is the oldest operating McDonald’s in Downey, California, which was the first McDonald’s to feature the now-iconic Golden Arches, originally conceived as visual lures to catch motorists’ attention. 

Designed by architect Stanley Clark Meston in 1953, the building features a tilted, wedge-shaped roof, sweeping curved arches, and canted plate-glass windows–all unified in a forward-looking aesthetic that remains largely unchanged since its opening, serving as a time capsule of mid-century design and commercial innovation.

Additionally, Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, California, is another well-preserved example of Googie architecture that remains a beloved community landmark where weekly classic car shows take place. 

Designed by Wayne McAllister and opened in 1949, and designated as a California Point of Historical Interest in 1993, the building features a long, low horizontal roofline with wide canopies, an asymmetrical shape alternating between sharp angular forms and smooth, curved windows, and a monumental 70-foot tall neon sign.

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Finally, where better to find monumental Googie structures than at airports–the very gateways that bring humanity closer to the skies that inspired the architectural movement? 

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Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City represents perhaps the most celebrated fusion of Googie architecture with transportation design. 

Completed in 1962, the terminal’s sweeping, wing-shaped concrete shell roof appears to soar and flow, embodying motion and futuristic optimism. Saarinen likened the form to Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine, capturing the sensation of flight in built form.

Meanwhile, at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the Theme Building takes the form of a distinctive “flying saucer.” The 135-foot tall structure perched on four parabolic arches has become an enduring symbol of both the Space Age and Googie architecture itself. 

Designed by a dream team of mid-century Los Angeles’ most influential architects–consisting of Pereira & Luckman, James Langenheim, William Pereira, Charles Luckman, Paul R Williams, and Welton Becket–the Theme Building was completed in 1961 at the height of the Jet Age.

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Originally conceived as a central hub for the airport, it featured a restaurant suspended beneath its dramatic arches and an observation deck that offered visitors panoramic views of Los Angeles and the bustling runways below.

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