{{Short description|American architect}} {{Infobox architect | name = Eldon Davis | image = Eldon Davis.jpg | image_size = <!-- if image is smaller than 250px --> | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|02|02}} | birth_place = Anacortes, Washington<br>United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|04|22|1917|02|02}} | death_place = West Hills, California<br>United States | alma_mater = University of Southern California | influences = | influenced = | practice = Armet & Davis | significant_buildings = {{Unbulleted list|Norms Restaurants|Pann's Restaurant| Wich Stand }} | significant_projects = | significant_design = | awards = }} '''Eldon Carlyle Davis''' (February 2, 1917 &ndash; 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 is largely influenced by Southern California's car culture and the Space Age of the mid-20th century.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |first=Valerie J.|last=Nelson|title=Eldon Davis dies at 94; architect designed 'Googie' coffee shops |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-me-eldon-davis-20110426,0,5591348.story?track=rss |work=Los Angeles Times |date=26 April 2011}}</ref> Davis was a founding partner of the Armet & Davis architectural firm which championed Googie architecture, including the original Norms Restaurant, a Googie coffee shop designed by Davis.<ref name=latimes/> For his work, the ''Los Angeles Times'' called Davis, "the father of the California coffee shop."<ref name=latimes/>

==Biography== Eldon Davis was born in Anacortes, Washington in 1917.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/architect/architects/669/ |title= Davis, Eldon |work=Pacific Coast Architecture Database |access-date=14 July 2013}}</ref> He originally worked at a fish cannery while attending the University of Southern California.<ref name=latimes/> He created a new design for the fish cannery as an architectural student, a design that was later built.<ref name=latimes/> Davis earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Southern California in 1942.<ref name=latimes/>

Davis and his business partner, architect Louis Armet, expected to work in industrial architecture following their graduation from USC.<ref name=latimes/> However, their plans changed thanks to the post-war construction boom in Southern California following World War II.<ref name=latimes/> They began designing structures geared towards a growing population, including nurseries, churches, country clubs, banks and even bowling alleys.<ref name=latimes/>

In 1947, Davis and Armet opened their architectural firm, Armet & Davis.<ref name=latimes/> Together, the architects used their firm and its designs to champion Googie architecture, especially in California.<ref name=latimes/> The firm exists today as Armet Davis Newlove Architecture and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.

One of the best preserved examples of Davis's work is the Pann's coffee shop and its neon sign in Westchester, Los Angeles.<ref name=latimes/> Davis also designed the early prototypes for local Big Boy and Denny's restaurants in Los Angeles.<ref name=latimes/> The older buildings on the Fullerton campus of Hope International University also display Davis's classic Googie style.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hiu.edu/news/042911_googie.shtm |title=HIUs 'Googie' Architect of the Past, Eldon Davis, Passed Away |work=Hope International University |access-date=14 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119100358/http://www.hiu.edu/news/042911_googie.shtm |archive-date=19 January 2013 }}</ref>

Eldon Davis died of complications from spinal meningitis, at a hospital in West Hills, Los Angeles, on April 22, 2011, at the age of 94.<ref name=latimes/> He was survived by his second wife, Luana; a daughter, Karen; three sons, Dan, Mark and Wyatt; five grandchildren, Robin, Cindy, Ryan, Eric, and Marisa; and two great-grandchildren, Audrey and Connor.<ref name=latimes/> His first wife of more than thirty years died in the 1970s.<ref name=latimes/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.adnarch.com/ Armet Davis Newlove Architecture website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Eldon}} Category:1917 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Modernist architects from the United States Category:20th-century American architects Category:USC School of Architecture alumni Category:People from Anacortes, Washington Category:Architects from Washington (state) Category:Deaths from meningitis in California