One of the hallmarks of every Design Summit is the opportunity to experience the host city through the eyes of the people shaping it. This year, Los Angeles becomes the classroom.
From private homes and leading architecture and design studios to artist workshops, blue-chip art collections, and neighborhoods defined by innovation, this year’s behind-the-scenes tours offer rare access to the people, places, and ideas influencing one of the world's most dynamic creative capitals. Whether you're interested in architecture, interiors, art, landscape, preservation, hospitality, or urban development, each experience has been thoughtfully designed to immerse you in a different facet of Los Angeles.
Browse the tours below and begin planning your Design Summit experience. Note that space on many tours is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Architectural Treasures of Rustic Canyon: Walking Tour with Leo Marmol
Join architect Leo Marmol, cofounder of design-build practice Marmol Radziner, for an intimate walking tour of Rustic Canyon’s architectural gems. Explore the legacy of California modernism and discover how today's leading practitioners are responding to the area's unique landscape. The day will conclude with a visit to Marmol Radziner’s studio, an industrial shed transformed into an open, collaborative environment for high-end home design.
Inside Los Angeles’s Most Interesting Private Art Collections
Gain exclusive access to some of Los Angeles’s most significant private art collections with arts experts Andrea Feldman and Candy Coleman. Explore blue-chip works, emerging art, and collectible design in the context of deeply personal spaces and learn how top collectors are shaping the city’s cultural landscape.
West Hollywood Walking Tour with Save Iconic Architecture
Discover the rich design history of West Hollywood and the champions of its preservation. This tour will highlight the neighborhood's landmarks—from midcentury icons to Regency and classical revival gems—and showcase SIA's ongoing work to preserve the city's architectural legacy.
Shop the Best of LA with Kathryn Ireland and Martyn Lawrence Bullard
Enjoy an insider’s guide to the Los Angeles design scene with celebrated designers Kathryn Ireland and Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Visit their favorite showrooms, secret sources, and antique shops for an inside look at the very best the city has to offer the discerning design eye.
The Silver Lake Zeitgeist with Jared Frank
Explore one of Los Angeles's most fertile creative enclaves with designer and longtime resident Jared Frank, who knows Silver Lake the way only someone who has helped shape it can. This deeply local tour moves through his essential neighborhood haunts—singular shops, architectural landmarks, and the design projects redefining the area—tracing the lineage of taste and experimentation that has drawn makers to the hills east of the reservoir for decades. Along the way, you'll get the eclectic spirit of the place and the people who give it its character.
Inside Los Angeles’s Leading Architecture Firms
One of our favorite traditions: Peek behind the scenes at some of the city's most influential architecture firms for a look at their latest work, creative process, and the strategies that drive their firms to success. This tour offers an opportunity to meet the principals and teams shaping the future of the built environment in Los Angeles and beyond, devoting your day to the rigorous professional development the DLN is known for.
Inside Los Angeles’s Most Creative Design Studios
Step into the private studios of LA's most sought-after interior designers for a personal look at their creative worlds. See where inspiration takes shape and learn how these top firms develop their celebrated projects, from initial concept to final installation.
LA’s Top Tier Residences—from Bel Air to Malibu
Experience the pinnacle of Los Angeles living with a private tour of exceptional homes in the city's most exclusive neighborhoods. This tour showcases extraordinary projects by leading architects and designers, offering a rare look inside the gates of Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Malibu.
Artist Studios Across LA
Gain intimate access to the creative spaces of Los Angeles’s most compelling contemporary artists. This tour offers a diverse, behind-the-scenes look at the practices of painters, sculptors, and multimedia artists shaping the city's dynamic art scene.
Discover Pasadena’s Architectural Treasures
Explore the rich architectural heritage of Pasadena, from iconic Arts and Crafts Movement masterpieces to grand estates. This tour uncovers the unique history and design that make the city a living museum of early California architecture and includes a private lunch at the beautiful San Marino home of Made Goods founders Chris Dewitt and Oscar Yague.
Homo Faber’s Guide to LA’s Craft Ateliers
In partnership with the Michelangelo Foundation, this Homo Faber-guided tour celebrates contemporary craft in Los Angeles. Visit the workshops of master artisans and witness the skill, tradition, and innovation driving the city’s vibrant craft movement.
What's Shaping Los Angeles Culture Right Now
This insider’s tour offers a unique perspective on the people, places, and projects currently defining LA's creative landscape, from emerging art galleries to architectural hotspots.
Sports & Urban Development: Hollywood Park, SoFi Stadium, and Clippers Stadium with Hart Howerton
Explore the future of large-scale urban development with the master planners behind some of the city’s most exciting new additions: DLN member firm Hart Howerton. This tour provides an unparalleled look at the architecture and design of SoFi Stadium and the new Intuit Dome, showcasing the next generation of sports and entertainment venues.
Downtown LA’s Historic Heart with Eric Evavold
Join preservationist Eric Evavold for a walking tour through the historic core of Downtown Los Angeles. Discover the architectural history of the city’s original center and learn about the revitalization efforts that are giving these landmarks new life.
Museum Mile from End to End
Journey along Wilshire Boulevard’s famed Museum Mile for an exploration of some of the city's most significant cultural institutions. This tour offers a comprehensive look at the art and architecture of LACMA, the Academy Museum, and their iconic neighbors.
LA’s Biggest New Players: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and 2028’s Olympic Park
Get a preview of the projects set to redefine the landscape of Los Angeles. This tour offers a first look at the nearly-complete Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the developing sites that will play a central role in the 2028 Olympic Games.
Inside the Los Angeles Hospitality Scene
Enjoy an insider’s tour of the city’s most talked-about hotels and restaurants, where design takes center stage. This experience will include a look at Ken Fulk’s celebrated work for the Beverly Hills Hotel and other destinations defining the new wave of LA hospitality.
Ari Heckman's Los Angeles
See the city through the eyes of one of the buzziest figures in its hospitality and design scene. Ash Hotels cofounder Ari Heckman will take participants to some of his favorite places in Hollywood and discuss his newly completed hotel project in Venice Beach. Consider this your opportunity to peek behind the curtain of LA's boutique hotel world.
Wednesday, November 4: Optional Tours
Architectural Invention of Beverly Hills
While Beverly Hills is world renowned for luxury retail and hospitality, it’s also a city shaped by thoughtful planning, significant architecture, and a rich cultural history. This walking tour begins with a private visit to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, offering insight into the adaptive reuse of one of the city’s most important civic landmarks. From there, attendees will explore historic residential streets, notable public spaces, and commercial buildings, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s distinctive Anderton Court Shops. Moving beyond the familiar Hollywood narrative, the experience reveals the architectural and cultural influences that helped define Beverly Hills and its enduring legacy.
Inside Beverly Hills’s Iconic Historic Estates and Gardens
Explore Beverly Hills’s most storied estates, historic interiors, and remarkable landscapes. Through rare private access to landmark properties—including the Virginia Robinson Gardens and the iconic Greystone Mansion—attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the architecture, gardens, and cultural history that shaped one of Los Angeles’s most celebrated neighborhoods. Along the way, the experience offers insight into the enduring legacy of residential design, preservation, and the tradition of entertaining that helped define the city’s distinctive character.
Civic Heritage and Contemporary Iconography
This tour offers a compelling perspective on the intersection of civic history, and preservation. The experience begins at the Beverly Hills Women’s Club, a longstanding center of civic and cultural life, where attendees will enjoy a private look at designer Jaime Rummerfield’s thoughtful restoration of the historic clubhouse. Following the BHWC, attendees will enjoy a private visit to Beverly Gardens Park, which offers a broader perspective on the civic and cultural foundations of Beverly Hills. Winding through the city’s historic green spaces, rose gardens, and architecturally significant streetscapes, the experience traces the evolution of one of America’s most iconic communities. Along the way, stories of the designers, patrons, and legendary residents who shaped its identity—including figures from Hollywood’s Golden Age—provide rich historical context, revealing how architecture, landscape, and culture combined to define the character of Beverly Hills.
Runyon Canyon: A Landscape Perspective on Los Angeles
This guided morning hike through Runyon Canyon offers a compelling introduction to the geography that defines Los Angeles. From elevated viewpoints overlooking the city’s distinctive neighborhoods, participants will gain a deeper appreciation for the relationship between landscape, architecture, and urban development, setting the stage for a day of immersive design experiences throughout the city.
