Looking back on futuristic design

Every bit as exuberant as it sounds, Googie — a form of architecture that takes its name from an actual trio of midcentury L.A. coffee shops — is often dismissed as roadside American kitsch. In this thoroughly researched and handsomely designed update to his 1985 book on the subject, architecture critic Alan Hess puts futuristic 1950s hamburger stands, coffee shops, carwashes and motels into perspective as icons of pop culture and landmarks of design.

Hess, author of “Palm Springs Weekend” among other books, has an obvious love for architecture that is often dismissed as lowbrow. Hess is able to treat the subject matter as serious history without coming across as pompous or professorial.

He cites the influence of the genre in popularizing Modernist décor and notes the similarities between midcentury automotive design and eye- catching Googie buildings, which in essence were businesses housed beneath billboards. For anyone who’s ever dined at Denny’s or done the drive-thru at Jack in the Box, Hess presents a surprisingly compelling argument for the buildings’ significance in the history of commercial design.

As a hotbed of coffee shop architecture, Southern California plays a prominent role in “Googie Redux,” a coffee table book that serves a nice slice of L.A. life from the ‘30s to the ‘50s.

In addition to color photographs of recognizable landmarks, such as the Jetsons-style 1960 Theme Building at LAX and the 1965 Union 76 station with the soaring roofline on Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills, Hess provides a guided tour of Googie landmarks in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.

The book also contains a handy glossary that describes the stunning engineering feats achieved by the designers who laid the groundwork for and worked in the genre, a roster that includes such revered architects as Frank Lloyd Wright, Wayne McAllister, Albert Frey and John Lautner.

David A. Keeps