Kindred spirits at Retro Renovation

Dome Theaters in San Jose in danger!

In danger of demolition are the Winchester Theaters, a group of dome-shaped movie theaters which opened nearly 50 years ago showing It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to herald both the space age and new cinema. The buildings—originally called the Century Theaters—were the first theaters of their kind. Designed by San Francisco architect Vincent Raney and opened between 1964 and 1966 to accommodate a new widescreen technology called Cinerama that was developed to help theaters

Want to spend hours looking at 50's interiors photos?

Sure you do! I haven’t plugged my fantastic Flickr group here for a while, so I thought I’d take this change to direct you all to the group I started on Flickr FOREVER ago – now with 1700 members (can you believe?) and almost 5000 images – there’s a ton of great stuff to look at! Please join us at “The 1950’s Interior Design and Residential Architecture Flickr Group!” Here’s a sample:

The Geometry of the Midcentury Modern Garden — Part I

Contributing writer Ted Cleary, ASLA, of Studio Cleary Landscape Architecture, is back to shed light on the structure behind MCM landscape design that accounts for its unique look: I’m often asked by MCM enthusiasts which plants are most appropriate for the landscaping around their home. To be sure, certain species bring to mind that midcentury modern look: strongly “architectural” plants whose bold textures like spiky Yucca, big floppy Philodendron or stiffly upright Sansevieria (Mother-in-Law’s Tongue) are associated with the Southern

Like retro books?

I found this fabulous resource for retro books on ebay. It’s not often I give folks a plug, but if you’re like me and consider these books gems, you’ll love looking through BirdHouse Books The Golden books are great: And along with a ton of other travel brochures, I really like the art on this one from Tehran.