Raygun Gothic

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A 1950s coffee shop sign evocative of then-nascent spaceflight on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles

Raygun Gothic is a catchall term for a visual style that incorporates various aspects of the Googie, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architectural styles when applied to retro-futuristic science fiction environments. Academic Lance Olsen has characterised Raygun Gothic as "a tomorrow that never was".[1] The style has also been associated with architectural indulgence, and situated in the context of the golden age of modern design due to its use of features such as "single-support beams, acute angles, brightly colored paneling" as well as "shapes and cutouts showing motion"[2]

[edit] Origin

The term was coined by William Gibson in his story "The Gernsback Continuum":[2]

Cohen introduced us and explained that Dialta [a noted pop-art historian] was the prime mover behind the latest Barris-Watford project, an illustrated history of what she called "American Streamlined Modern." Cohen called it "raygun Gothic." Their working title was The Airstream Futuropolis: The Tomorrow That Never Was.

William Gibson, The Gernsback Continuum[3]

[edit] Citations

[edit] References

  • Alonso, Carlos (1998). Julio Cortázar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521452106. 
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