Featured image credit: Chalmers Butterfield

Here in the post-internet world, it’s hard to recall just how dramatically the automobile changed the country. Few American cities felt the cultural impact quite like Los Angeles. The arrival of the family car in Southern California created fertile ground for a series of architectural movements with none more over-the-top than programmatic architecture. Sometimes referred to as novelty or mimetic architecture, programmatic architecture was a style for people who thought Googie was too subtle. Why guide passing motorists to your car wash with glowing arrows when you could demand their attention by shaping your car wash like a giant soap bubble? This was the philosophy that drove one of the most otherworldly design styles of the modern era.  

What You See is What You Get

Photo credit: YaGeek

The golden era of programmatic architecture, particularly in Southern California, spanned from 1918 until 1941, roughly the decades between the two world wars. Like the surprisingly more subtle Googie architecture, programmatic structures were a direct response to the growing popularity of the automobile. People were no longer going through their days at a mellow pace, languidly absorbing the world around them. They were hurtling at breakneck speeds from one responsibility to the next. Naturally, bolder visions offered the best chance of standing out in the blur. 

While most establishments pivoted to automobile speeds with neon shapes in the Googie style, some decided to take things further. And nothing spoke louder than a building that took the very shape of what it offered. Looking for pet supplies? Keep an eye out for the building shaped like a lovable mutt. Need flowers for the missus? There’s a roadside building that looks like a flower pot. Kids getting into photography at school? Stop by the camera store… that also happens to be shaped like a camera. This was the world of programmatic architecture where what you’d see is literally what you’d get. 

Programmatic Architecture Envisioned Buildings as Billboards

Not every example of programmatic design was a one-to-one comparison of a provided service. Take the building that arguably started LA’s mimetic wave: the Brown Derby restaurant. True to its name, the Brown Derby looked just like an enormous derby hat discarded alongside Wilshire Boulevard when it opened in 1926. But it was an instant sensation. 

Photo credit: Binksternet

Who cared that it served steaks instead of headwear? People wanted to eat inside of a giant hat. And so mom-and-pop shops all across LA followed suit, hoping that people would also like to eat inside gargantuan donuts, drink inside massive whisky barrels, and shop for homes inside colossal sphinx heads. In the days of programmatic architecture, buildings became their own advertisements. 

Features of Programmatic Architecture

Amidst this golden era of mimetic construction, a few common characteristics began to clarify, attempting to lend some consistency to programmatic architecture. 

• Visual Mimicry – The programmatic building has to look like (or strongly allude to) something other than a building. Popular options included food, animals, and anything relating to cars. 
• Sense of Humor – Programmatic architecture rarely took itself seriously. There was a tongue-in-cheek element to inviting passersby to enjoy a cup of coffee in a building shaped like an alarmed bulldog. 
• Functionality – While programmatic structures often opted for fashion over logic and reason, elements of the buildings often served practical purposes as well. 
• Relevance – As we mentioned, programmatic architecture didn’t always allude to the services it housed. That being said, form mirrored function often enough. Bono’s Orange Stand, shaped like an orange, primarily served citrusy orange juice. The Donut Hole, an ominously yawning drive-through donut tunnel, was… you guessed it… a donut shop. California Piano, designed to look like a massive piano, was, in fact, a piano showroom. The visual often held some relevance to the service provided and/or the establishment’s name.  

The Unique Mimetic Opportunities Provided by LA

Photo credit: Jllm06

LA enjoyed a particular affinity with programmatic architecture, particularly when compared to major east coast cities. At mimetic architecture’s dawn, metropolises like New York were well-established and more or less developed while LA was still a relatively new city. This gave Los Angeles a rare liberty to embrace programmatic styles unfettered. 

Building codes seemed to change with zip codes, so small businesses took advantage of lax oversight to build directly from their imaginations. These conditions created a uniquely fertile ground for a variety of mimetic concepts. 

Criticisms and Decline

Thus, for a few decades, humorous buildings shaped like anything except buildings were popping up all over the biggest intersections and roadsides. But not everyone was a fan. Critics, particularly those distantly observing from East Coast cities, derided programmatic designs as tacky, immature, and generally in poor taste. 

Photo credit: Junkyardsparkle

World War II drained the world of its optimism and wonder, making it hard to smile, let alone laugh. It makes sense then that, just a few years into the war, interest in programmatic architecture steeply declined. Before the war, eating ice cream out of a hut that looked like an owl was whimsical. During the war, it was like an ill-timed joke at a funeral. Small businesses, unable to keep pace with the maintenance and repair of the absurd structures had no choice but to allow them to deteriorate with the years. 

In the subsequent decades following World War II, the public didn’t hold much love for programmatic architecture, viewing them as relics from a time of childish optimism. At one point, the Greater Los Angeles area was home to just under 100 clear examples of programmatic design. But through disrepair, property acquisitions, demolitions, and the spinning hands of time, only a few mimetic structures remain today. These days, historians are more likely to evince a retrospective appreciation for programmatic architecture, recognizing in its cartoonish designs a brave response to a rapidly changing world. Programmatic architecture exemplified a rare moment in history when the unknown was greeted with optimism rather than fear. 

The Future of Programmatic Design

While it may not seem like there’s much of a future in programmatic design, groups like hospitality company The 1933 Group have risen to become purveyors of the embattled artform. They purchased the programmatic North Hollywood watering hole, The Idle Hour, in 2015 with the knowledge that it earned a Historic-Cultural Monument designation from the city in 2010. Through meticulous efforts, they painstakingly restored the bar, shaped like a looming whisky barrel, to a consistently popular art spot serving a burgeoning NoHo arts district. As a bonus, they even recreated the 1928 Bulldog Café which resided at the Peterson Automotive Museum. It now scowls at guests from the Idle Hour’s beer garden. 

Photo credit: Josh Lim (Sky Harbor)

Continuing their devotion to revitalizing programmatic structures, The 1933 Group also resurrected the beloved hot dog stand Tail o’ the Pup in 2022. The family that owned Tail o’ the Pup shuttered it in 2005, donating the stand, a giant hot dog crafted from wood, metal, and plaster, to Van Nuys’ Valley Relics Museum. However, The 1933 Group still managed to purchase the original stand from the family, restoring it to its former majesty. It now operates from its new home in West Hollywood. 

Examples of Programmatic Architecture Around Los Angeles

If you’re interested in seeing what remains of LA’s programmatic architecture boom, the following locations are great places to start: 

• The Binoculars Building – 340 Main St, Venice, CA 90291
• Bono’s Historic Orange – 15395 Foothill Blvd, Fontana, CA 92335
• Crossroads of the World – 6671 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
• The Donut Hole – 15300 Amar Rd, La Puente, CA 91744
• Fleetwood Center – 19611 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana, CA 91356
• The Idle Hour – 4824 Vineland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 91601
• The Koffee Pot Cafe – 957 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90802
• Shutter Shak – 8612 Westminster Blvd, Westminster, CA 92683
• Tail o’ the Pup – 8512 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
• The Tamale Building – 6421 Whittier Blvd, East Los Angeles, CA 90022
• The Wigwam Motel – 2728 E Foothill Blvd, San Bernardino, CA 92410