Architect Eldon Davis has died. He's the father of iconic Googie California coffee shops -- those high-flying, hard-angled midmod gems, both whimsical and dramatic -- that also employed a touch of Vegas flair. From the L.A. Times:

Built on La Cienega Boulevard in 1957, Norms had many features that came to typify the whimsical style of architecture known as Googie — a vaulted roof that resembles a flying wing, a room-length dining counter and an attention-grabbing vertical neon sign with roots in Las Vegas kitsch.