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Houston Googie?


lgg

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Unfortunately googie in Houston is a little thin on the ground, which is a bit surprising considering how we boomed during that period. To me the best local examples are the Church of Christ Scientist on Main downtown and the old car wash off the Gulf Freeway. Another googie-ish one is the church off Broadway near the Gulf Freeway that has a rocket-like steeple. Eyebrows notwithstanding, the office buildings on Richmond strike me as too formalistic to be very googie. Googie always implied a bit of exuberance they seem to lack. The Astrodome has nice pylons, but as a whole I would make the same point that it lacks the exuberance of googie. I like it, but overall it is a very staid composition. I would call it MCM and leave it at that. Googie has to be defined a little more narrowly than that.

There was also a beautiful blue-tiled, 1960's dentist office bldg. rt. by the carwash/gas station. They recently covered/messed most of it up with that hardi-plank stuff. What a shame. You can still see the tile work on the ends of the bldg. Those tiny tiles. Shades of blue. How depressing, hopefully they are still underneath.

Turquoise buildings! My strange obsession! :wub:

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To me the best local examples are the Church of Christ Scientist on Main downtown

Damn, Subdude! Beat me to it.

Exuberant though the Christ Scientist building may be, does it qualify as Googie? I was hesitant to name it as such, because it has a certain dignity not usually associated with Googie architecture.

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I mentioned it in post 19 above, and, though it's a spectacular example of mid-century "contemporary" architecture, I don't think it qualifies as Googie, either. Too serious and dignified. I would say the same for most of the other churches mentioned here, too. The 59 Diner on the Katy freeway, now, THAT was Googie!

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KRIV Fox 26's location on the Southwest Freeway looks a little neo-Googie-ish:

y1pYQUv23ZU2mwPJAgmeRsmSSj5H0kJHNX0.jpg

I need to go back by the retail development under construction on Pearland Parkway at BW-8. It has some interesting upswept roofs and color treatments, but I can't find a pic online.

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KRIV Fox 26's location on the Southwest Freeway looks a little neo-Googie-ish:

I need to go back by the retail development under construction on Pearland Parkway at BW-8. It has some interesting upswept roofs and color treatments, but I can't find a pic online.

That is one building I have always liked. It does a great job of capturing a lot of 1950s touches while still appearing modern. The window treatment strikes me as similar to Memorial Hermann and some other buildings at the Medical Center.

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There are several of these types of buildings on Dowling street, see em before they tear em down!

and way over on Lyon's Ave in near north East downtown off of Lockwood. Just love Googie :P

Anybody followed up on Vert's post to check those out? I'm thinking there might be more in areas which haven't seen substantial redevelopment since the early '60s.

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Turquoise buildings! My strange obsession! :wub:

:lol: I am afraid I do too. I have a pic of the dentist office, before it was ruined...I try to find & scan it for you, sometime soon.

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:lol: I am afraid I do too. I have a pic of the dentist office, before it was ruined...I try to find & scan it for you, sometime soon.

Cool. I have a collection of turquoise building pictures myself. That was the color of mod.

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Cool. I have a collection of turquoise building pictures myself. That was the color of mod.

1964 NYC World's Fair's offical colors were turquoise and orange.

At the time, the height of fashion for interior decoration was all black and white, with either an orange or turquoise accent.

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Anybody followed up on Vert's post to check those out? I'm thinking there might be more in areas which haven't seen substantial redevelopment since the early '60s.

These "unspoken areas" is where you will find remnants of the past. City decided to build in other directions so these oldies but goodies remained. Luck of the draw. Head north on Jensen Drive and discover more. :)

I personally always wanted to live in the Jetson's Home - Super Googie to us kiddies!

jetsons.jpg

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There was a gas station like that in Friendswood that was torn down a year or so ago. I think it was a Texaco. Sure looks like there were a bunch of those -- wonder if they were all the same oil company and built about the same time?

KCOH's building on Almeda Road is kinda neat, with its octagonal blue glass bay. KCOH Studio

By the way, I found a new copy of _Googie Redux_ by Alan Hess at Half Price Books in Pearland for ten bucks when they opened earlier this year. There may be copies at other locations. As others have posted, it's highly recommended. I'm a little surprised how broadly the author defines Googie. There is a photo glossary at the back of the book of Googie elements such as folded plate roofs, eaves, and structural steel columns.

And, as an aside to LGG, I wonder if you widened the focus slightly to include "Atomic" or "Space Age" architecture if you could find enough interesting material to make a story without limiting it strictly to Googie. That would let you pick up the churches, athletic venues, etc. Just a thought -- you're the pro. :)

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I want to say there is a sister to that gas station on Washington, it is a car sales lot or a car window tint place.

Ultimate Googie, this is the inside of a Sambo's, now defunct, restaurant. We had one of these in Clear Lake close to the Space Center. We have talked about it before on here, but THIS is very special.

homepage_shot.jpg

Here are some people enjoying the Googieness, circa 1967.

11-4-04.jpg

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I think those were Phillips 66 gas stations.

A nice little example is the restaurant (Dennys?) on the Gulf Freeway at Gulfgate. Another term for googie is after all "coffee shop modern".

In addition to the Googie books, another classic reference to design at that time is Populuxe by Thomas Hine.

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It was torn down a few years ago. There was also a beautiful blue-tiled, 1960's dentist office bldg. rt. by the carwash/gas station. They recently covered/messed most of it up with that hardi-plank stuff. What a shame. You can still see the tile work on the ends of the bldg. Those tiny tiles. Shades of blue. How depressing, hopefully they are still underneath.

I tried to resize this pic, didn't work. I'm aggravated... :angry: Anyone know what's wrong? Anyway, here's the pic of that tile work. Googie-ish roof.

2myymtu.jpg

Homes-Southeast012.jpg

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Thanks for posting the picture!

and I hope that helps...just cropped it a bit

Thanks for the quick fix Sevfiv, :) I've added a detail picture of the tilework. (See above post). It was taken recently, believe it or not, from the ends of the bldg. that are not covered. At least not yet. :o:angry2: The concrete Gulfgate fountains had something like that tilework on the inside of them. Just love it.

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Lyons Avenue Health Center, maybe? Looks pretty angular:

I am almost certain that is the one at Lyons and Lockwood (or near) in edge of Denver Harbor area by RR tracks. It has been added onto and remuddled since I can last recall getting a booster shot there around 1967 as a child? Whoah! By then it was time to split the scene if you will. :ph34r:

The TSO about a block further east still had those 1950's specktacle frames (cat eye glasses) as the sign above the entrance. Major throw back.

S37201group.jpg

I think its recently been modernized. Rats, we were too late. The Fiesta in back used to be a Weingarten's too. Amazing it is still there!

PS, some of the best old fashioned "real" Mexican restuarants will be found all along this strech of Lyons. Really.

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I am almost certain that is the one at Lyons and Lockwood (or near) in edge of Denver Harbor area by RR tracks. It has been added onto and remuddled since I can last recall getting a booster shot there around 1967 as a child? Whoah! By then it was time to split the scene if you will. :ph34r:

Nope, Vertigo, but you do know the location of this one. It's right off the Gulf Freeway (I-45S), where the Glenbrook Golf Course meets the freeway, next to the Dairy Queen, & the "used-to-be" ;) Bonanza. And the "river rock front" apartments we have talked about before.

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Thanks for the quick fix Sevfiv, :) I've added a detail picture of the tilework. (See above post). It was taken recently, believe it or not, from the ends of the bldg. that are not covered. At least not yet. :o:angry2: The concrete Gulfgate fountains had something like that tilework on the inside of them. Just love it.

In fact, this very same tilework has made a big comeback! Have seen in several new venues around the city.

It is dazzling and never seem to go out of style. :)

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"Any favorites out there? Folded roofs? swoopy facades? Any great bowling alleys? signs? service stations?"

When I first moved here in 1980, Bellaire was a regular Googie City USA. Dang the Southwestern Bank of Texas for tearing down their spectacular bank at 5301 Bissonnet. They're slowly getting rid of what's left. Spring Branch is the same way, but they're not as quick to demolish as Bellaire.

If you care to Googie for God, nothing beats the Park Place Baptist Church on 4101 Broadway (1961). I don't know if "big inanimate objects" qualify as Googie, but the Freeway Baptist Church at 144 Winkler has a big stone bible above the entrance, though the rest of the building is pretty non-descript. Brochsteins (1947) at 11530 Main has one big pylon in front. The old Houston Post building (1970) has pylons, too, but is a little too late in the genre and not "wild" enough. In a different part of town, try the Unity National Bank Building at 2602 Blodgett (1963), or perhaps the building that was HQ for NASA (2999 S. Wayside, 1957) while the JSC was being built.

If you're looking for Googie, look at what areas were developed when it was in style. I love the Phoenix Insurance Co. Building at 3323 Richmond (1961). Also, there's the Bellfort Square Office Building (1966) at 6711 Bellfort. And if ever there was a Googie skyscraper, it would be the Bank One Building (1962) at 1001 East Southmore.

A possible residential candidate would be a Bruce Goff creation at 323 Tynebrook Lane (1960), or perhaps 3403 North Parkwood in Riverside Terrace. (Yes, of "This Is Our Home: It Is Not For Sale" fame.) One of the craziest buildings ever was build in 1985 by Arquitectonica at 2627 Colquitt Street. It's like a Googie homage. You just have to see it; a teaser: the windows are parallelograms!

I'm posting the side view of an old gas station (Sinclair?) on Witte in Spring Branch. I know I have other views, but I can't find them right now. Love those pylons! :P

post-757-1212301235_thumb.jpg

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