A Guide to Novelty Architecture

Novelty architecture has its roots in googie architecture, though the two are notably different. Googie architecture ended in the 1960s, but novelty architecture still exists today. Architects consider novelty architecture as anything that takes on a humorous or exaggerated appearance. A good example is the headquarters of The Longaberger Company in Newark, Ohio which looks like one of the giant baskets the company's known for.

The point of novelty architecture is to advertise a company or business. The buildings have an extremely unusual shape and seldom resemble a traditional buildings. A specific type of novelty building is the larger than life versions. These buildings look like a specific item, but are created on a larger scale such as the Longaberger building. Other buildings look like animals, produce or mimic the look of a famous building on a smaller scale.

Novelty architecture often has a fantasy or vintage slant to it. One example is Disneyland, which uses fantasy elements in the architecture found inside the park. There's also Law Vegas, with the majority of the city having novelty elements. The Luxor Hotel is considered a piece of novelty architecture.

A separate form of novelty architecture is known as programmatic architecture. This type of architecture takes a typical item and blows it up into the shape of a building. Coffee shops that look like a giant coffee pot or buildings created to look like animals are all examples of programmatic architecture. Some also call this mimic architecture or mimetic architecture.

Novelty architecture first became popular during the 1930s as a way to attract new customers and advertise new or existing businesses. The popularity of cars and other automobiles had people moving to other areas and taking longer vacations. These roadside attractions caught their attention and were more popular than traditional hotels and gas stations.

Route 66 was once home to thousands of novelty architecture buildings and roadside attractions. Hotels, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses used novelty styles to attract customers. The use of neon was extremely popular, as was the use of unusually shaped buildings. A good example are the hotels that sprung up shaped like teepees or hotels where customers could actually sleep in a teepee.

Novelty architecture includes more than just buildings; it also encompasses different types of objects. Water towers and sculptures are examples of this. In Circleville, Ohio the water tower is painted to look like a giant pumpkin, a nod to their annual and famous pumpkin festival. This type of attraction is fairly popular in smaller towns. Novelty water towers resemble corn cobs, teapots, ketchup bottles and even fruits like peaches and strawberries.

Sculptures another of novelty architecture. Louisville's famous Slugger Museum pays homage to their bats by offering a huge sculpture of one out front. These large scale sculptures usually appear in a popular area and include some type of connection to the area. Some other famous examples of novelty architecture include Bondurant's Pharmacy and the original Brown Derby.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_architecture

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/16834