Book Author/Designer
GOOGIE MODERN: ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS OF ARMET DAVIS NEWLOVE
Architect Magazine
“If I can make one small suggestion to Cotino’s imagineers, it is that they acquire a copy of Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove (Angel City Press, 2022), the book that author Michael Murphy put together to highlight the truly exciting and inventive worlds the Los Angeles–based firm put together at midcentury.” - from “Midcentury Modern Turns Into a Fairytale at Storyliving by Disney” - by Aaron Betsky
The Architect’s Newspaper
Armet & Davis’ swaggering architectural translation is a thing of wonder. But there is also rigor to the drawings, down to the pies in the stainless-steel vitrines. There was more: The forced perspective, angular planes, and not-quite-clashing geometry seem like proto-Hadid brainstorms yet are refreshingly free of pretension. These are drawings that should appear on every student’s taboret. Each one is a thesis on how to achieve dynamic, built form without resorting to the ministrations of Rhino and high-tech materials. - By Craig Hodgetts • Architecture, National, Review -
Teaser video I made for publisher.
“In Googie Modern: Architectural Drawings of Armet Davis Newlove, author Michael Murphy takes readers inside the private archives of the forward-thinking trio dubbed the "fathers of Googie.” Inspiring not just artists and filmmakers but the public at large, their futuristic coffee shops and restaurants made dining out a space-age experience, just as man was ready to walk on the moon. Armet Davis Newlove’s architecture captured the optimistic and forward-thinking mood in post-war America and set the bar for what would become Mid-Century Modern style. The firm’s high-concept designs shaped Southern California and then took off across the American landscape, giving the US innovative, practical, and gorgeous monuments of everyday life. Each remarkable rendering demonstrates the passion and precision that went into every Armet Davis Newlove creation. Googie Modern is itself a monument to the excitement and optimism that once lined the streets of mid-century America.”
EVENT DATES:
12 pm to 2 pm book signing on Saturday, April 23 in the Angel City Press Booth (#119) during Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the USC Campus (in-person)
12 pm to 2 pm book signing on Sunday, April 24 in the Angel City Press Booth (#119) during Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the USC Campus (in-person)
12 pm on Wednesday, April 27, Los Angeles Conservancy's People + Places event (Virtual)
1 pm on Sunday, May 1, Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter (Virtual)
7 pm on Wednesday, May 11, Skylight Books (in-person)
2 pm on Saturday, May 14, Just Fabulous in Palm Springs (in-person)
7 pm on Thursday, June 16 Architecture&Beyond lecture series at Los Feliz Library (virtual)
the gram for the book…
