Rodrigo Vargas

When I was 5, my parents left Chicago where I was born and returned to Mexico City to start a new business and rejoin our large, extended family. As an artist, my love of painting and design led me to study architecture at university in Mexico, then Boston, before landing at a well-known architectural firm in Los Angeles specialising in large-scale, commercial and civic projects all over the world. I hated it. For me, the work felt cold, impersonal and anonymous. My desire to be more hands-on, expressive, artistic and emotional, led me to the world of hospitality interior design. Working out of my garage, I started Rodrigo Vargas Design Associates 12 years ago. Today, we’re a growing, multi-lingual team of 20 working out of a building we own on trendy Melrose Avenue. I’m proud and inspired every day by the work we do and how we have grown.