In the automotive boom after the Second World War, gas stations were revving up in number as traveling by four wheels became an affordable luxury. These oases for failing up represented a new sense of freedom and optimism, temples to self determination, to mobility, and to the open road. References to pop culture and folk art were branded into their structural design, and a rich visual vernacular extended their purpose far past the pump.
It's a Gas! retraces the roadmap from the first forays into topping up, to today's premiere gas stations, with pitstops along the way at the golden age across Europe and the States as well as a look at what happened to these worlds of wonder as many of them were abandoned in more contemporary times. Daily fixtures with unmated personalities: top up with the architecture of optimism presented in It's a Gas!
