email: roadarch@outlook.com

Giant Things & Buildings

(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page)

This section is devoted to giant-sized objects and mimetic architecture, the technical term for buildings that imitate animals, people, or objects. Other names for these structures include "programmatic", "vernacular", or "duck" architecture (a reference to the Long Island Duck). This phenomenon was especially popular in Los Angeles in the 1920s. As the automobile became affordable and roads improved, businesses competed visually along the highway prompting business owners to erect these eye-catching structures. There are very few contemporary examples since most companies are looking for cheap and reproducible designs. Included in this section are various oversized sculptures as well.

This is a big section with more than 60 pages and roughly 1,850 photos. That does not include the Giant Food, Giant Containers, Giant Animals, Giant People, and Collections sections. If I'm missing anything, I'd love to hear your suggestions. I appreciate any updated or additional information about these places as well. Enjoy!

Furniture Hats Shoes Boots & Spurs Skates
Hands Heads Other Body Parts Musical Instruments Paint Cans
Sports & Games Guns Ships Vehicles Icebergs, Igloos
& Caves
Globes Castles
 Lighthouses
 Windmills
Claes Oldenberg Other Giant Things Links Food section

RoadsideArchitecture.com  
Copyright. All photos at this website are copyrighted and may only be used with my consent. This includes posting them at Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, other websites, personal use, etc.

Tips & Updates. If you have suggestions about places that I haven't covered, historical info, or updates about places/things that have been remodeled or removed, I'd love to hear from you: roadarch@outlook.com.