Populuxe was a consumer culture and aesthetic in the United States popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The term ''populuxe'' is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsmetalized plastic trim that simulated chrome. Structures commonly used pastels, geometric shapes, and surfaces of stucco, sheet metal, and often stainless steel. Populuxe emerged after people began seeing semi-luxury commodities as luxury ware and mass consumer goods. It is also interpreted as a mass culture that desired luxury finishes on everyday material goods. It is said to be an offshoot of

Fordism Fordism is a manufacturing technology that serves as the basis of modern economic and social systems in industrialized, standardized mass production and mass consumption. The concept is named after Henry Ford. It is used in social, economic, and ...

in the early 20th century and was also facilitated by the start of the emulative celebrity culture. The work of various artists, designers, graphic designers, furniture designers, interior designers, and architects is associated with the populuxe movement. Populuxe is associated with

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

and overlaps with mid-century modern architecture, Streamline Moderne,

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

(Doo Wop architecture), and other futuristic and

Space Age The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 during 1957, and continuin ...

influenced design aesthetics that were

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

, technology-focused, and optimistic in nature.

References

American architectural styles Futurist architecture Modernist architecture Modernist architecture in the United States 20th-century architectural styles Googie architecture {{architecture-hist-stub

See also

References