Googie Style

Chip's Coffee Shop, 11908 Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, CA

All my yarny friends know that I frequent tons o' little yarn shops around the City. My office happens to be in close proximity to about 5 high-end shops. There are times, however when I just need to breath in the fumes from some acrylic yarn goodness. My latest acrylic fave is Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand. I'm currently obsessed with crocheting granny squares (see yesterday's post) and Vanna's yarn is perfect for this!

The best place to purchase Vanna's yarn is at Michael's Craft Store. We live in the middle of Los Angeles, not exactly craft-central. All of the big Michael's are in the hinterlands or burbs. I either have to travel to the San Fernando Valley or to the South Bay to find a nice, clean and well-stocked Michael's. We're about 15 minutes on a clear traffic day to the Michael's in Hawthorne, bordering Manhattan Beach.

I was at my preferred Michael's a couple of weeks ago. It was a windy, clear day. I thought I'd drive home the long way and cruise Hawthorne Blvd. in search of Chip's Coffee Shop. Chip's is a great-looking example of mid-20th century Googie-Style architecture. This type of modernistic, space-age architecture is called "Googie" after the coffee shop of the same name designed by John Lautner in 1949. Googie's was on the south/east corner of Sunset Blvd. at Crescent Hts. in West Hollywood.

Back to Chip's. I found it. I didn't go in, but I photographed the exterior. It's a beautiful example of this soaring style of architecture. The architects that designed in this Googie style wanted to entice people to come inside the establishment. These buildings usually have soaring rooflines, big neon signs and large windows so the passers-by can see the inviting interior. I absolutely LOVE this type of architecture.

Who cares what the food tastes like...the architecture is faboo! See more examples of Googie architecture here.