Photo © Benny Chan | Fotoworks
SOM collaborated with artist Janet Echelman to create a 65-foot-tall public artwork, titled "The Dream Catcher," suspended between the two towers of Sunset La Cienega Hotel. Photos © Benny Chan | Fotowork
Photo © Benny Chan | Fotoworks
Photo © Benny Chan | Fotoworks
Set at the base of Hollywood Hills, the Sunset La Cienega Hotel cuts an imposing figure. The massing of two angular towers forms a barrier between the residential hills above and the city grid below. And yet, the hotel’s strategically positioned courtyard serves as a crucial link between these contrasting urban conditions. Designed by the Los Angeles office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the structure, with its rough, exposed concrete shell, pays homage to the grittiness of the Sunset Strip, while its refined interior conjures a far more serene atmosphere.