Raygun Gothic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Although Raygun Gothic is most similar to the Googie or Populuxe style and sometimes synonymous with it, the name is primarily applied to images of science fiction — it describes the typical mad scientist laboratory as seen in films like Bride of Frankenstein and Fritz Lang's Metropolis, as well as the architecture of The Jetsons and, more recently, Futurama and Dexter's Laboratory. The style is also still a popular choice for retro sci-fi in film and video games, such as the designs for the film Mars Attacks! and the video game Fallout. Raygun Gothic's primary influences include the set designs of Kenneth Strickfaden and Fritz Lang.

[edit] Citations

  1. ^ Olsen, Lance. ""The Future of Narrative": Speculative Criticism: or Thirteen Ways of Speaking in an Imperfect Tense". ParaDoxa 4 (11): 375. 
  2. ^ a b Raygun Gothic and Populuxe Culture: The Next American City, Today!. The Next American City (2008-01-14). Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
  3. ^ "The Gernsback Continuum" in Gibson, William (1986). Burning Chrome. New York: Arbor House. ISBN 9780877957805. 

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The works of William Gibson
The Sprawl trilogy: William Gibson in August 2007
The Bridge trilogy:
Other novels:
Burning Chrome
collection
Other short stories:
Miscellanea:
Story elements: