hope alexander was born in 1965 los angeles to artist parents both of whom had backgrounds in architecture. she was raised in tuna canyon in the santa monica mountains in a house her parents designed and built on six acres. there she developed an appreciation for building and a simple, organic style of architecture that focused on relationships to nature. hope spent her childhood amidst the burgeoning fine arts community of the 60's and 70's l.a. and was influenced by its sense of light, space and unbridled creativity.
alexander works as both an architectural designer and builder. she manifests her own designs with her own crew. the 'buildability' of the design is implicit in her work. she is on site for the entire process. this facilitates quality, precision and the ability to refine the design in the building process, so the creative vision doesn’t stop until the project is actually finished. she takes into consideration the environment at all levels visually, functionally, climatically, for a dwelling that suits its place and time, not only esthetically but also practically.
alexander’s designs feature use of light and color to create a sense of space, now a tradition in the california “light and space” art movement of which she is the next generation. Her work takes into consideration the art of ‘installation’ transferred into everyday life within the living ‘installation’ of a home. her interiors, the flow between spaces, are illustrations of the contemporary notion that art need not be in a frame on a wall. her work invites you to literally live in a frame.
alexander attended sarah lawrence college and graduated from ucla with a b.a. in american studies. she is an exhibited painter whose work has been installed most notably in schindler’s mak center los angeles. she has traveled extensively through the american southwest, mexico and europe.