Global
The First Long-Distance Trip
Bertha Benz made the first long-distance trip in an automobile in 1888. Bertha was the business partner and wife of Carl Benz, an automobile inventor. She drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim in Germany, about 105 km (65 mi). There were no streets in the modern sense and no gas stations. She stopped at a pharmacy for the petroleum solvent that she used for fuel at Wiesloch. Along the way, she needed to be inventive about repairs to complete the trip. Pharmacies became the first places used as refueling stations.
Photo: Bertha Benz and the Benz Patent-Motorwagen (public domain)
Arne Jacobsen - Denmark
Just north of Copenhagen, Denmark, a gas station designed by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen was built in 1937. The Skoveshoved Petrol Station was originally designed for Texaco and the main building is now used as an ice cream parlor. The distinctive oval canopy projects from the rectangular building and is lit from below at night. Arne Jacobsen designed a number of buildings nearby on the Bellevue beach including the Bellevue Beach Baths in 1932, the Bellavista housing development in 1934, the Bellevue Theatre in 1936 and this petrol station.
Photo: Arne Jacobsen © Arne Jacobsen Design
Photo: Arne Jacobsen © Arne Jacobsen Design
Jean Prouvé - France
In 1953, the french designer Jean Prouvé and his brother Henri designed one of the first gas stations intended for mass production. The station was created for Mobiloil Socony-Vacuum and used modular components as in many other Prouvé designs. An angular aluminum frame supports the roof with perforated wall panels are clearly differentiated from the structural frame. Only three are known to remain, with this example on the Vitra Campus near Basel, Switzerland.
© Vitra, Photo: Thomas Dix
Foster + Partners - Spain
Repsol hired Foster + Partners in 1996 to develop a flexible design for 200 locations in Spain that could be adapted to each site. The modular canopies in red, white and orange are clustered in overlapping patterns to provide a strong brand identity in different types of locations. The shop, pumps and car wash are all designed in simple box forms.
Photo: Shutterstock