Innovative architecture of Los Angeles in the '50s and '60s The bright lights enticed with their promise of food, fuel, fun and rest. In the 1950s and '60, the businesses that sprang up along Los Angeles' streets and boulevards wanted to stand out to attract an important customer: the motorist. And like the colorful and chrome cars that channeled the prosperity of the post-war economic boom, the imaginative architecture of these motels, diners, gas stations, coffee shops and fast-food restaurants mirrored that optimism. Ashok Sinha, a photographer, spent years documenting these buildings for his new book, 'Gas and Glamour: Roadside Architecture in Los Angeles'.