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Googie and Other American Roadside Architecture of the 20th Century
Take a virtual tour along America's roads and highways: Here are photos and discussions of America's billboards, neon signs, diners, shopping plazas, and other offbeat buildings from the mid-twentieth century. Discover "Googie," "Tiki," mimetic architecture, and other forms of roadside buildings.
What Is Tiki Architecture?
Tiki Architecture is fanciful architecture that incorporates Polynesian themes. Learn more from our Architecture Glossary.
What Is Mimetic Architecture?
Mimetic, or mimic, architecture is a programmatic approach to building design. Learn more from our Architecture Glossary.
Googie Architecture
"Googie" was a fanciful style that expressed America's dreams for the space age. Learn about Googie architecture.
Googie Architecture in the Sopranos on HBO
Wacky roadside buildings are boss in the hit TV series, The Sopranos.
Historic Route 66
Follow America's famous highway through California, Arizona, and New Mexico, with links to odd buildings along the way.
Googie Architecture Online
History and photos for the 1950s American style named after Googie's coffee shop in Los Angeles
Roadside Architecture
A photographic tour which explains several varieties of roadside architecture: googie, tiki, vernacular and neon.
Mimetic Architecture
Dr. John H. Lienhard describes how the growth of high speed highways inspired mimetic, or programmatic, architecture. Buildings were designed to advertise their function. From the "Engines of our Ingenuity" radio series.
Minnesota's Roadside Architecture
From Native Americans to Mythological figures, photographer David W. Nystuen catalogs the larger than life architecture of Minnesota.