Summit LA 19

DWNTWN Los Angeles - 2019

Creative Direction & Environmental Design

In the capacity of Creative Director & Architect, I orchestrated the full environmental design of SUMMIT LA19 — a four-block immersive event experience in downtown Los Angeles that blended talks, performances, art, culinary, and wellness across historic theaters, restaurants, rooftops and open-air spaces. My role spanned from master-planning the “campus” of venues, to designing architectural interventions, scenography, lighting schemes, way-finding systems, and guest circulation strategies that transformed urban infrastructure into a flexible, curiosity-driven platform of experiences.

The design intent was to heighten serendipity, connection and immersion. By applying a cohesive material and lighting language across disparate spaces, I created a unifying sensorial identity—raw finishes paired with curated details, dynamic lighting transitions that supported formal talks through late-night performance zones, and modular spatial systems that could adapt to wellness studios, art installations, and pop-up dining. The overarching outcome: a seamless environment that encouraged attendees to move fluidly from keynote sessions to rooftop lounges to wellness studios, blurring boundaries between content, culture and place. The result was an environment that supported 65+ talks, 40+ performances and 45+ wellness sessions—bringing design, architecture and experience together in a high-impact city-scale event.

Summit LA19 functioned as more than a conference: it was an immersive, city-sized platform that blended business, culture, wellness, design, and social impact in an urban environment. By activating downtown Los Angeles’s architectural and cultural assets (historic theaters, restaurants, rooftops) the event became both a local experience and a globally notable gathering of creative and entrepreneurial leaders. For anyone involved in design, hospitality, event production, or place-making, Summit LA19 is a useful case study in multi-venue programming, experiential architecture and cross-disciplinary engagement.

Notable speakers included high-profile names like Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO), Gwynne Shotwell (SpaceX COO), Hamdi Ulukaya (Chobani founder), Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates founder), Satguru, and A$AP Rocky among others.

Photography: