Helen Liu Fong (January 14, 1927April 17, 2005) was a Chinese-American architect and interior designer from Los Angeles, California. Fong was an important figure in the

Googie architecture Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, Jet aircraft, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was pop ...

movement, designing futuristic buildings like

Norms Restaurant Norms Restaurants (stylized as NORMS) is a chain of diner-style restaurants in Southern California. Founded in 1949 by used-car salesman Norm Roybark, some restaurants are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. the company operates 21 locations, ...

, the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...

Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some of the locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries. Description Originally opened as a Diner, coffee shop un ...

Bob's Big Boy Bob's Big Boy is a restaurant chain founded by Bob Wian in Southern California in 1936, originally named Bob's Pantry. It is now part of Big Boy Restaurant Group, the current primary trademark owner and franchisor of the Big Boy system. At its ...

, and Pann's Coffee Shop that helped usher in an era of boomerang angles, dynamic forms and neon lights. Fong became one of the first women to join the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

, and worked with Armet and Davis on many of her most well-known projects. Many of Fong's best-known building designs feature large glass fronts and bold colors on interior walls, designed to stand out and entice potential customers.

Background and education

Fong was born in

Chinatown, Los Angeles Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a resident ...

to Chinese immigrant parents, one of five children. Fong grew up working in her family's laundry business, and knew by age 12 that she wanted to become an architect. She began attending

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 1943, transferring to

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

after two years. Fong graduated, and received a second degree in city planning from the Berkeley School of Architecture in 1949.

Career

Fong joined the architecture firm of

Eugene Kinn Choy Eugene Kinn Choy (1912–1991) was a Chinese-American architect best known for designing the Cathay Bank headquarters in Chinatown (1962–66) and several private residences in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was the second Chines ...

in 1949 and worked there for two years before downsizing landed her at the firm of Louis Armet and

Eldon Davis Eldon Carlyle Davis (February 2, 1917 – April 22, 2011) was an American architect, considered largely responsible for the creation of Googie architecture, a form of modern architecture originating in Southern California. Googie architecture ...

. One of her first projects with the firm was their first Googie-style building, The Clock Restaurant in Westchester, where Fong recommended the use of bright, strong wall colors that would be easily visible from the roadside. The firm quickly became known for their exciting Googie designs, and Fong worked on hundreds of buildings, including hotels, gas stations, restaurants and coffee shops. The mid 1950s saw Fong working on two of her firm's most well-known designs, Norms Restaurant and the Holiday Bowl. The Norms designed by Armet and Davis in 1955 was not their first location, but the building's iconic pennant-based sign and semi-open kitchen design became hallmarks of the company's image. Fong's interior design aimed to make the restaurant more efficient for guests and employees, as well as creating spectacle that would lure in new customers. The

, built in 1958 in the Crenshaw neighborhood, became one of Fong's most celebrated projects. She led the design of the cocktail lounge, putting in touches like a 3-D map of Japan, to pay tribute to the Japanese American community, just rebuilding after World War II internment. The Holiday Bowl stood as a landmark and community center in Crenshaw for over four decades, bringing together Japanese Americans, African Americans, and Chinese Americans, among others. Fong's work was rewarded with a promotion to associate at Armet & Davis in 1964, charging her with handling client relationships and managing projects in addition to her design work. Fong retired from the design firm in the late 1970s.

Legacy

In 2012, the

Chinese American Museum The Chinese American Museum (Chinese: 華美博物館; abbreviated CAM) is a museum located in Downtown Los Angeles as a part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. It is dedicated to the history and experience of Chinese America ...

featured a group exhibition with works from four Chinese-American architects who were based in Southern California: Fong, Eugene K. Choy,

Gilbert Leong Gilbert Lester Leong (1911-1996) was a Chinese-American architect who designed churches and public buildings in the Los Angeles area. He was the first Chinese-American to graduate from USC with a degree in architecture. His designs helped shape t ...

, and Gin D. Wong.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fong, Helen Liu 1927 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American architects 20th-century American women artists American architects of Chinese descent Architects from Los Angeles UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design alumni California women architects 21st-century American women

Background and education

Career

Legacy

See also

References

External links