EPISODE 71: GO BACK TO THE FUTURE BY CHECKING OUT THESE 10 DISTINCT EXAMPLES OF GOOGIE ARCHITECTURE

In this week's episode of Living in the Sprawl: Southern California's Most Adventurous Podcast, host Jon Steinberg shares his list of 10 distinct examples of googie architecture in Southern California. His list includes: Bob's Big Boy Broiler in Downey, Mel's Diner in Sherman Oaks, Union 76 on Cresent Drive in Beverly Hills, The Theme Building at LAX Airport, Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, the oldest McDonald's in Downey, Chips Restaurant in Hawthorne, Norm's on La Cienega in West Hollywood, Pann's in Westchester and Johnnie's Coffee Shop in Mid-Wilshire.

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Transcript

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Hello listeners and fellow explorers. This is living in the sprawls lovely and talented producer slash wife, Lisa Steinberg. I wanted to thank all of you for your continuous support of the show. As a new podcast on the scene, John and I self-support the logistics and research that go into the show. The number one way to support the show is to rate, review and share this podcast with everyone, you know, Many of you have been doing this and it has helped immensely. I also invite you to check out our website and the show notes for other ways to support the show. We are currently working with companies. We currently use ourselves. To get discount codes for our listeners and support the show in the process. These companies include. Every table, just CBD store, gold belly cats, botanicals, and so much more. By using the links on our website, you are letting them know we sent you an intern, supporting the show. You can also support us on Patrion and pod fan. Please check out the website@livinginthesprawlpodcast.com. For updates on companies we are working with our testimonies links codes and new living in the sprawl merchandise Again thank you to all of you our lovely listeners for tuning in every week and allowing us to do what we love Without further ado you're humble correspondent John steinberg Hello and welcome. To another edition of living in the sprawl, Southern California's most adventurous podcast. I am as always your humble host the correspondent. My name is John Steinberg. Joined in tandem by my lovely and immensely talented producer slash my wife. Her name is Lisa Steinberg. We are the team here at sprawl enterprises. Ready to bring you yet another exciting of foray into the vast expansive terrain. That we have lovingly dubbed the sprawl. On today's show a deep dive. Into the. World of kitsch. We're going to be examining. Googy architecture. 10. Spots. To acquaint yourself with the signature Southern California. Architectural style. In 1949. Googy. Coffee shop. Opened its doors. At sunset and Crescent Heights. It's neighbor at the time. Was the Uber famous. Schwab's. Pharmacy and soda fountain. If you drive by that intersection today? None of it's there anymore. But there is a very sleek. AMC theaters on the second floor. Of. A pretty modern shopping center. With. Googy. The diner, the coffee shop. The world became acquainted with a futuristic. Take on architecture. Enormous. Windows. Streamlined modern facades. Buildings that resembled. Things. You might anticipate. Okay. Greeting. On a trip into outer space. John Lautner. Famous Southern California architect. Who's designs include the chemist fear, which we talked about on a prior episode of the podcast. The sheets, Goldstein residence in the Hollywood Hills. The Garcia house also in the Hollywood Hills. Lottner designed. Googy. To be a beacon. Of what was possible. In the future. Uh, scant eight years later. Construction began in earnest on the 4 0 5 freeway. Now the 4 0 5 enabled. Well, it enabled the sprawl to really exist. In practicum. It provided Southern California residents with a pathway to explore. The south land, like never before. Also in 1957. The Soviet union sent Sputnik into space. When you combine. The space race. The proliferation of the automobile. In the empowerment. Of every day. California residents. What was to be known as googy architecture made a great deal of sense. It seemed forward. Looking. Offered. Open-ended. Promise in the future. And a way. For residents to be able to hop in their cars. And visit outer space. Architects like Lochner. The firm of. Our mitten Davis. Wayne, the Callister practitioners. Who worship at the altar? Of googy once. A target of derision. These buildings have now come to represent. A bygone era in American history. Uh, time. When you could argue, Los Angeles took the Baton from New York city. As. The American destination of the future. While many. Landmark. Gucci buildings have. Been demolished. Eradicated. From the Southern California landscape, there are. A plethora of ones that still very much exist. And you should make an effort to check them out. As who can tell how long. They'll continue to be around. So today let's take a look at 10, still standing examples of googy architecture in the south land. And number 10 in Downey. Big boy. Broiler. Now this. Building. Was originally known as Harvey's broiler. After some years and a change in ownership, the name was changed to Johnny's broiler. A destination for. Teenagers cruising. And the 1950s. The big. Fluorescent sign. And space aged. Theme. Helped to put this place on the map. A real destination. In the gateway cities portion. Of the sprawl. The restaurant. Was, I'm going to say tragically, the victim of an unlicensed demolition. At the beginning of 2007. It was only through the efforts of. Extremely tuned in preservationists that the demolition. Order was halted. Authorities were called out and stopped this illegal destruction. Have a gateway cities, landmark. Roughly half of the building. Had been demolished. Before the destruction had been put to a stop. But the other half. Was built upon refurbished and reopened as. Johnny's big boy broiler. And if you choose to check out the eatery. You might feel like you've seen it before. And that's because you have, this is the place where Robert de Niro lbs, Wayne grows head. Into the table. 25 minutes into the movie heat. We see it in Jawbreaker. We see it in can't hardly wait. It's been utilized. In a flurry of music, videos, and television programs. It has that quintessential 1950s diner look on the interior. And even though. It was tragically tinkered with. Thankfully, it still does exist. As good as ever. Right in the heart of Downey. For you to check out. For yourselves. And number nine Mel's diner. In Sherman Oaks on Ventura Boulevard where this podcast is currently being recorded. Originally opened as Carrie's coffee shop. This futuristic structure. Was transferred. Into a males in 1989. Inside. You'll be greeted by a menu with typical diner fare. From your chicken fried steaks and Patty melts. To cob. And Caesar salads. Fun fact. Producer of living in the sprawl once had a celebrity sighting. Seeing Luke Perry in the flesh dining. At this beloved. Example of googy architecture on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. And number eight, the union 76 gas station. In the Beverly Hills area. So we move out of the. Realm of restaurants. Into another area. Where googy architecture. Really made its presence known. Gas stations. So here we have. Something that resembles. A prop from the set of Mars attacks. And you can somehow fill up. On Let it gas here. A curiosity at this point. Indeed a passport. Into the past. Which was at the time. Trying. To better outline the future. It confusing. Presence. This gas station. Deserves to be in a modern art museum. And yet somehow. It's still very much operational and a terrific example of googy architecture. At number seven, the theme building. At Lex Los Angeles international airport in the Westchester section of the city. Most of us have. At some point flown in or out of lax. And often times our eyes. Find themselves. Gazing at this unusual structure. That is readily visible to most. Airline passengers weaving or entering. The airport. In one of the most crowded. Airports in the world. It seems fitting that this quote unquote theme building. What exists? Hailing. The future. From the 1960s. While simultaneously. Being an example. Of. Los Angeles has place as. What we would argue. To be the most indispensable American city. It's right there for any and all to gaze upon the theme building. Right in the center of lax. And number six, Bob's big boy restaurant in Burbank on Riverside drive. You've undoubtedly seen this. Jetson's like eatery. Whether it was in Austin Powers. The page is of. comic book. Or even. If you merely recognize it. By virtue of the titular big boy. From packaging on items. That you stroll by at the local supermarket. The Beatles. Once. Eight here there's a plaque commemorating the occasion. Typical diner fare is offered at this longstanding. Outpost of the once thriving big boy chain. In the 1980s, by the end of the 1980s, there were around 240 bobs. Big boys scattered around the United States. And as of this recording, there remain only a handful. And this is. The most important of the remaining. Branches of Bob's big boy. We strongly urge you to. Head over to Burbank. Sit in the booth where Ringo. John George and Paul wants PSAT and get yourself. A double big boy burger. And number five, the oldest active McDonald's. This again, takes us back to this city of Downey. Downey really getting a lot of play on this episode. This. McDonald's is unlike any other that you've ever experienced. It looks like. A non-functioning. Entrance to a ride at Disneyland tomorrow land. Futuristic space like. The building has been around since 1953. It actually predates. Ray Crocs. Assumption. As majority business owner of the McDonald's chain. This is probably the most fascinating thing to see. Within the city of Downey. A throwback. Uh, toss forward. However, you'd like to describe it. They've got those. Iconic French fries. Ready to go. But in the most. Up to. Packaging. That you've ever encountered. For a nostalgic trip to the future. Check out the oldest active McDonald's from the year of our Lord. 1,953. In the style of googy the city of Downey. Uh, number four, ships coffee shop. In the city of Hawthorne. A Stone's throw away from where the beach boys grew up and the first home. That Marilyn Monroe. Was to ever reside in. This example of googy. Architecture. Is out of place in the best possible way. No one would confuse Hawthorne for Bel air. And chips is less than a mile from the notoriously abandoned Hawthorne. Plaza mall. But, you know, it's also like a mile away from space X. Proving once again, that Hawthorne is. One of the strangest Cities. To be found in the United States, definitely anywhere within the sprawl here, you can. Chow down on. Eggs Benedict. A delicious breakfast burrito. A true breakfast, south bay classic. Chips is a very special place. In an area that desperately needs more of them. On our list of the quintessential examples of googy architecture to be found in the sprawl it's Chip's coffee shop in the city of hawthorne And number three. The norms on a lossy Yanika. Nigga. This is the oldest. In the norms, restaurant chain. Famously appearing. In. One of my favorite paintings of all time. Norm's on loss, sciatica on fire by Edward Rausch. This is technically west Hollywood. But it might as well be. Omaha Nebraska, when you walk inside. There are no traces of quote unquote, Hollywood to be found here. Even though. As mentioned it is most definitely. In the cross hairs of the city of west Hollywood. You walk inside. And you feel like you're going to be briefed on. An engine pack. That you need to wear outside the spaceship. As. Your voyage takes you to the moon. Something Stanley Kubrick. Might've dreamt up. Working on storyboards for 2001, a space Odyssey. The norms on loss sciatica. Is on the national register of historic places. And even though it might sound curious, That a restaurant like norms would be on such a list. If you check out a picture of the establishment or you have the occasion and opportunity to visit for yourself. You will undoubtedly see why this building. Is vital. To understanding. The history of greater Los Angeles, you could just get in your car and drive. Over the loss sciatica. And strap on in. For a voyage. To the future. It's norms on lossy anika one of our favorite examples of googy architecture I never two pans. Located. Technically in. Ladera Heights, the Westchester area. Of Los Angeles, not all that far from the airport. And we've actually talked about pans on a prior episode. Of the podcast, albeit in a dramatically dissimilar fashion. The movie triple X was partially shot. Inside. This. Eatery. Which began its life cycle in 1958. There's a season, one episode of euphoria. That takes place inside a pans. It's neon sign. Is visible to passers by. Working their way. Through the streets of Los Angeles. Uh, Lark. As previously mentioned a curiosity. A time, capsule of sorts. Pan's restaurant. Is maybe. The best. Still operational. Example of googy architecture. To be found anywhere in the Southern California sprawl. And that means we've arrived at our number one spot. Taking. The gold metal. As our favorite example of googy architecture to be found anywhere. In the south land. It's Johnny's coffee shop. On Wilshire and Fairfax. Across the street. From the Peterson automotive museum. Right next to the old. May company building, which is now the academy. Museum. This stretch of the miracle mile is. One of the most iconic portions of Los Angeles. Now Johnny's coffee shop. Was originally opened in 1956. And actually it hasn't. Been operational for oh. Uh, about two decades now. But it's on the national register of historic places because the architecture is just so cool. At one point during the 2016 presidential campaign, it's served as the California. Headquarters for the Bernie Sanders campaign. It's been seen in movies like the big Lebowski and the 1980s cult classic miracle mile. I've had it happen a couple times. And if you have resided in the city or travel to it, you probably have two. Where someone. Points at the building and goes, wow, what is that? Johnny's coffee shop that. Wow. It's a very distinctive structure. In a crowded part of the city. This being. Museum row. I mentioned a couple of the locations. In close proximity. And even though you can't wander in. And grab a Denver omelet any longer. The mere fact of its existence. It's kind of comforting enough. A time capsule in plain sight. There's nothing quite like the non-operational. Johnny's coffee shop. At Wilsher and Fairfax. And that's going to do it for a, another installment of the podcast. We'd like to thank all of our dedicated listeners for their continued support. A couple of easy ways to demonstrate that support hop on apple iTunes, leave us a five star reading and a kind review. That stuff really helps us out a lot. I'll let business end. Follow us on Instagram. The handle is living in the sprawl podcast. We invite you to drop us align. At living in the sprawl podcast@gmail.com, we invite any and all of your feedback, we consider it greatly invaluable. And we'd like to direct you to our. Tremendous website. And it's on our website that you can snap up a copy of the living in the sprawl guide. So that you don't have to go combing through old archived episodes of the show, looking for that one specific recommendation that you vaguely remember hearing from an episode that came out oh, like a year ago. We've also gotten merchandise on our website. And it's a great place. To equate yourself with all things living in the sprawl. On behalf of myself. I am as always your humble host in correspondent. My name is John Steinberg and I am joined by my lovely and talented producer slash my wife. Her name is Lisa Steinberg. We are the team here at sprawl enterprises. Thanking you from the bottom of our hearts for joining us on yet another episode of living in the sprawl So the California's most adventurous podcast talk to you all very soon