Founder and Creative Director Judit M. Fekete-Pali has been responsible for the strategic direction and artistic vision of the firm since its founding in 1995 with partner Zoltan E. Pali.
Their collaboration across a diverse range of projects has established the firm’s reputation as an experienced and thoughtful partner in both the design of new facilities and the renovation and adaptive reuse of historic structures. Recent examples include renovations of the Warner Grand Theatre and Pantages Theatre, each an iconic theatre designated by the City of Los Angeles as a Historic Cultural-Monument and restored to their original grandeur.
Judit has contributed to the designs of some of the firm’s most widely recognized work, most notably as the lead designer and developer for MODAA, a block-length mixed-use space in the heart of Culver City’s Arts District. Configured with flexible spaces equally attuned to living and working, the project was named Mixed-Use Project of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Council. In addition to receiving awards from the AIA and Southern California Development Forum, the building’s distinctive Art Deco inspired façade was designated by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission as “Architecture as Art.”
As director of the MODAA Gallery—a platform for collaboration with the Los Angeles art and design community—Judit assembled exhibitions that featured the work of artists Charles Arnoldi, DeWain Valentine, Brad Howe, Lucas Blok, and architects Jerrold Lomax and William Krisel, among others.
- What do you love about architecture?
I don't know, I live it.
- What is your most memorable architectural moment?
A few months after visiting Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum , I was walking through Florence, Italy and I noticed several buildings and courtyards had similar scales, evoking similar spatial experiences—close to the skin and comfortable; the architectural order relating to my human scale. The influence of one on the other became clear. These little moments, where seemingly disparate ideas connect, are my favorite.
- Beverage
Anything distilled
- Symbol
Omega
- Object
An egg
- Era
Future
- Location
Here
- Building
The next one
- Vehicle
It has to fly (or swim underwater)
- Song
The one in my head now
- Ritual
Try to keep still
- Activities
Problem-solving, dog, yoga, gardening, music, cooking .... eating, drinking, dancing.....
- Tagline
Ok, you will survive it.
- In one word where do you find inspiration?
Nature