Googie vs Space Age Design
Space Age Design is the cross-discipline counterpart of Googie — the product counterpart to architectural Googie's space-age futurism.
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
Space Age Design
The optimistic Sputnik-era idiom of glossy plastics, spheres, pods, and futuristic curves — Aarnio's Ball chair and molded-plastic capsules celebrating the dawn of space travel.
- Seamless molded plastic and fiberglass spheres and pods
- High-gloss white and saturated pop colour surfaces
- Silhouettes referencing orbs, capsules, and satellites
- Pedestal and single-stem bases lifting forms off the floor
- Enclosing, cockpit-like seating as private capsules
At a glance
| Googie | Space Age Design | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1945–1970 | 1957–1972 |
| Discipline | Architecture | Industrial Design |
| Region | United States, Southern California | United States, France, Finland |
| Family | Modernism | Modernism, Pop |
| Formal traits | upswept, space-age, exaggerated, neon | futuristic, molded, glossy, spherical |
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