The architect dreaming up new hotel concepts around the world.
Architect & Designer
When Icelandic-born Gulla Jónsdóttir was looking for a studio space to begin her eponymous architecture firm, she zeroed in on West Hollywood’s Design District — and stumbled into her first big job. “The landlord told me, ‘I have good news and bad news. The bad news is, you can be here for four years and then I have to kick you out because I have a permit to build a hotel here. The good news is, I’m going to hire you to design the hotel.’” That hotel was Kimpton La Peer, the first of many hotels around the world that Jónsdóttir would conceptualize. She has since gained acclaim for her unique spatial experiences that exist in harmony with their natural surroundings and boldly, seamlessly integrate art.
“I think West Hollywood is the only location that has this unique niche of design from all over the world, and it’s densified into a few blocks. So there is this international design market that is only here. I don’t find any other part of LA as compact, and this is a very unique destination for that.”
Gulla was filmed at Kimpton La Peer and the Pacific Design Center.
“[West Hollywood] is the best of fashion, furniture, design and art, but also has unique and wonderful restaurants, hip bars and cool spaces to hang out. I think the city is remarkable in that sense, and I enjoy it the most out of the wider Los Angeles area. It’s become my home and studio for several years because of that reason.”
“I wanted [the Kimpton La Peer] to be a symphony of art and design, blending fashion, art, furniture, poetry, architecture and music. We got a lot of artists to collaborate — not to just hang a piece of art on the wall, but to paint the ceiling and paint the walls. It became a part of the soul of the hotel.”
“The West Hollywood Design District is a community of artists, designers — people that care, people that have a passion for life, for beauty, for good art and design.”
“I think West Hollywood has the celebrity factor, it has the art scene as well as the culinary scene. So with that combination, and of course, with the music scene of Sunset [Boulevard], it’s a very eclectic mix of people that somehow all get along just famously.”
“For me, this is the hub to shop and to find new things. Everything is the latest, the greatest for high-end furniture, design, fabrics — anything you need. I design hotels around the world … but I always come back to West Hollywood.”
