Alan Hess (born 1952) is an American architect,[1][2] author, lecturer and advocate for twentieth-century architectural preservation.
"Alan Hess [is] a prominent California architecture critic who has written extensively on roadside strips," writes the New York Times (March 6, 1994).
Through 2012, Alan has written and/or co-authored twenty books, published numerous articles on the architecture of Googie, Las Vegas, Frank Lloyd Wright, Oscar Niemeyer, John Lautner, Ranch Houses, Palm Springs, Organic architecture, Mid-century Modern design, and suburbia.
He is responsible for qualifying several landmark buildings for the National Register of Historic Places, including the oldest operating McDonald's in Downey, Stuart Company Plant and Office Building and Bullock's Pasadena in Pasadena, and the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, Arizona.
[5] Googie coffee shops, he said, "brought modern architecture to ordinary people in their everyday lives.