Fantastic architecture

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Fantastic architecture is an American building fad or style designed to catch attention and make a building stand out from the competition. It largely developed in the early 20th Century after the introduction of the car. Examples of fantastic architecture, also known as exotic architecture, include filling and service stations, motels and retail establishments. This architectural style, in some instances, is a lesser quality "built" version of Andy Warhol's commercial artwork. This style also foreshadowed trends in fast food restaurant design, such as McDonald's golden arches.

These structures take the form of airplanes, tepees, pyramids, castles, and even a mortar & pestle. Where more established architectural styles are integrated into Fantastic architecture, such as the use of a Japanese pagodas, the style is more accurately called Fantastic rather than Japanese due to the juxtaposition of use with style. Wadham's Oil Company's pagoda-style filling stations are an example of this.

In the study of Art History and Architecture this is related to novelty architecture in which a structure is built in an unusual shape to attract attention and serve as a landmark in this case for product identification. Later McDonald's exploited a similar shape for the design of their restaurants for the same purpose.

In the 1930's this intent by TEXACO resulted in their hiring the Industrial Designer Walter Dorwin Teague to redesign their service stations into an architectural profile that could be recognized even at a distance. His design however with minimalist lines, lattice fenestration and canopy over the gas pumps and entrance resembling a simplified "porte cochere" were more of a utilitarian nature than one of imaginative associations. However it was indeed a recognizable image for the company which continued to use architectural design as part of their corporate image into the 1960's which by then utilized an open plan design with rusticated ashlar exterior finish. Teague as well designed the company logo for TEXACO in the 1930's of the round sign with red star on a field of white and a green "T" for Texas in the center. He also inspired the use of the fireman's hat as a corporate symbol for their various grades of gasoline such as "Fire Chief".