Googie vs International Style
Googie arose as a reaction against International Style — pushed back against the International Style's sober restraint with exuberant, attention-seeking form.
Googie
An exuberant Space Age commercial style of postwar America — upswept roofs, boomerang and starburst motifs, bold signage, and futuristic optimism aimed at the passing motorist.
- Upswept, cantilevered, or parabolic rooflines
- Space Age motifs: starbursts, boomerangs, atoms
- Bold pylons and dramatic exaggerated signage
- Expansive plate glass and exposed structural daring
- Futuristic, car-oriented commercial showmanship
International Style
The austere, functional modernism of glass curtain walls and unornamented volumes — 'form follows function' built in steel and glass.
- Rectilinear, volumetric forms with flat roofs
- Glass curtain walls and ribbon windows
- No applied ornament — 'form follows function'
- Exposed structural grid; steel and reinforced concrete
- Open, flexible floor plans raised on pilotis in some works
At a glance
| Googie | International Style | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1945–1970 | 1920s–1970s |
| Discipline | Architecture | Architecture |
| Region | United States, Southern California | Germany, Worldwide |
| Family | Modernism | Modernism |
| Formal traits | upswept, space-age, exaggerated, neon | geometric, minimal, functional, unornamented |
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