Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister, The (Perfect Paperback)

by Chris Nichols (Author) "The architectural legacy of twentieth-century America is not best explained through individual monuments but by the patterns and forms of its places..." (more)
Key Phrases: town house hotel, industriels modernes, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Agua Caliente (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Ebullient and breezy, this retrospective on the multi-generation career of commercial architect Wayne McAllister is the perfect vehicle for the architect who defined the southern California look and, according the New York Times, "elevated commercial structures like the drive-in restaurant...to art forms." Needless to say, the look he gave birth to has become so ingrained in popular American culture that it's largely taken for granted; McAllister's overwhelming influence and sizable output get some deserved recognition in this volume, thick with photos and illustrations, that has the feel of a lovingly assembled collage. Historic preservationist Nichols, a Los Angeles native, shows a deep knowledge and passion for his home state, and displays his architectural chops in simple, unpretentious and occasionally cheeky writing that susses out the idealism and everyday glamour of McAllister projects like the Melody Lane restaurant (which graces the cover) and the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. Academics and serious architecture buffs may be frustrated by a lack of new insight or research, but less demanding fans of mid-20th century commercial architecture, and many fans of American pop culture in general, will find this volume as fun and welcoming as the oversized figure of Bob's Big Boy adorning McAllister-designed drive-ins all along the western seaboard.
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Product Description
The work of late commercial architect Wayne McAllister (1907-2000) is responsible for much of the character of Southern California today. His Fred-and-Ginger nightclubs and glinting-steel-and-blazing-neon circular drive-ins brought Hollywood to life. His Sands Hotel in Las Vegas became the home of the Rat Pack; the mythology of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. owes a great deal to the swank glamour of the Copa Room and the Sands Hotel, one of McAllister's finest.


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Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith; 1 edition (March 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586856995
• ISBN-13: 978-1586856991
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #209,435 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars bittersweet tinge, May 15, 2007

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Nichols gives a nostalgic retrospective on the long live and prodigious output of Wayne McAllister. In no small part, the book walks the reader back through the last 60 years of urban commercial architecture in the southern California region. McAllister lived a very long time, and he was responsible for designing iconic landmarks that at least in the hazy afterglow of memory, epitomise a classic time.

The book is replete with many photos and illustrations, the cover being an example of the latter. The most common image, if not exactly the most enduring, is Bob's Big Boy. I remember in the early 80s, when I arrived in Los Angeles, how these fast food restaurants and their mascots were everywhere. Even getting a cameo role in Terminator. Alas, as the years wore on, the Bob's Big Boys got steadily deprecated. Not many left.

Another type of McAllister's work has also fallen into the tar pits of history. He designed many of the drive-ins that dotted Los Angeles. And which were an indelible part of many teenagers' experiences. Sadly, most are long gone, brought down by the VCR and its successors. At least in the book, you can see several as they once were, at the peak of their glory. Actually, no matter how pretty the architecture, the sound was often bad, the food dreadful, the movies second rate and the nearby cars often had loudmouths.

Great book. But for some readers old enough, there is a certain bittersweet tinge to all this.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and thorough, August 30, 2007

By	Randy Clemens "Chef Extraordinaire" (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nichols presents an interesting look at many of the historic landmarks of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, painting the picture of times since forgotten. Being in my 20s, many of the landmarks I knew in name only, although I have seen and been to some, but in both cases, Nichols' book manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia and longing. The book is obviously painstakingly researched, and the sheer number of rare and hard-to-find photographs are enough to make any architecture or food history buff go ga-ga.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEYOND GREAT, December 2, 2008

By	Josephine Powell "author" (West Hollywood Ca.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very informative. As a teenager Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake was a hang out on Friday nights. Great burgers. Lo and behold in 1960 as a dancer I performed in a show at the El Rancho Vegas. It was during the Sands hey day and the shoot of "Ocean's Eleven". A few years later another show at the Tropicana Hotel again in Las Vegas which wasn't even mentioned in the book. Yes I'm a fan of Wayne's. I go as far back (not in age) as Agua Caliente when I did research on Hollywood moguls who built the race track and spa. Yes Rita Hayworth was discovered dancing there with her dad Eduardo Cansino. The movie "In Caliente" is a must have for McAllister lovers. Wayne's story is more than about architecture. It's about Americana. He is a treasure and so is the writer to so captures McAllister's essence.
However, as a historian and McAllister fan we need more in depth text and pictures about other landmarks other than Agua Caliente whose founders seemed to have dissapeared. or did they?
About the Flamingo Hotel. Words were given to the mob but not enough about Billy Wilkerson and the Hollywood Reporter or builder Del Webb and his own stock piling of building materials during wartime which enabled Bugsy to build the Flamingo Hotel (I performed there in 1966). The connection of all these men was gambling. These men started off-shore gambling (1912) with Baron Long whose famous nightery was a Rudolph Valentino hangout. One wonders if he in fact also needs a book.