Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove (Angel City Press)
Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove highlights the never-before-seen architectural drawings of Armet Davis Newlove--the trio dubbed the fathers of Googie. Beloved by architectural historians, enthusiasts, and casual passers-by, their atomic-age coffee shops, diners, and restaurants are iconic in Southern California--the?Googie look that spread across the nation. The drawings show?the firm's high-concept designs, and demonstrate?how Googie captured the culture of the time, and gave the US innovative, practical, gorgeous monuments of everyday life. Text by renowned architectural historian Alan Hess places Armet Davis Newlove and Googie architecture atop the highest echelon of mid-century modern design and architectural history. Author/designer Michael Murphy brings the work to life, showcasing the fabulous drawings as important mid-century artwork.
Michael Murphy is a former agency creative turned independent designer and real-estate entrepreneur. He met Victor Newlove and viewed his first Googie renderings when he was still in junior high, and those images were locked in his brain. They would eventually define his passion: Googie Modern. Prior to creating this book, Murphy designed Vedem Underground, an exhibition that Smithsonian magazine hailed as one of the ten “Don’t Miss...” exhibits of 2017/2018. Murphy curated and designed two exhibitions with companion books about Santa Monica, and the book Los Angeles: A Look Back to Postcards of the 1930s & 1940s from Today with his colleague, photographer Jens Lucking.
Alan Hess is the author of twenty books on Modern architecture including the landmark Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture in 1985. He serves on the boards of California Historical Resources Commission, Preserve Orange County, and Palm Springs Modernism Week, and has helped achieve landmark status for buildings including CBS Television City, Bullock’s Pasadena, Norm’s La Cienega, and the nation’s oldest McDonald’s stand. He has received the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Honor Award, Docomomo/US’s Award of Excellence, and the Los Angeles Conservancy’s President’s Award.
