Architecture for Cars

A smooth ride through the golden age of car travel, looking at both its cultural and architectural impact on the world.

Despite the inherently mobile nature of cars, the culture of road travel and the road trip is arguably best reflected in the stationary spots found along the way. Christopher Beanland journeys through these built environments across the world, whose sole purpose is to cater to cars and those who drive them, and examines what makes them so alluring.

Illustrated with 65 stunning photographs, Architecture for Cars explores everything from the colorful drive-thrus found across the US to the brutalist fashions of listed UK petrol stations. If you’ve ever wondered where German drivers stop off for a quick prayer, why Ed Ruscha felt drawn to painting gas stations, or you just enjoy the aesthetics of car-centric architecture, this book is for you.

Also included are essays on wider topics such as drive-in malls, road signs, cars on film, and roads that never were. This latest architectural deep-dive from Beanland focuses mainly on the twentieth century, with an additional optimistic look toward the future: hopefully an electric vehicle-led existence will herald a new, greener “golden age” for cars.Christopher Beanland is a journalist, comedy writer, and author who specializes in architecture and travel writing. He is the author of Station: A Journey through 20th and 21st Century Railway Architecture and Design, City Parks: A Stroll around the World’s Most Beautiful Public Spaces, and Unbuilt: Radical Visions of a Future That Never Arrived.