If Los Angeles is a melting pot, then Sergio Zeballos is one of its more exotic ingredients.

The architect was born in Uruguay, works in Venice, designed an Italian-inspired hill town in South Korea – and was just honored in France for his work.

Zeballos, 56, a partner at Jerde Partnership, designed mixed-use development D-Cube City at the site of a former coal-processing plant in Seoul owned by Daesung Industrial Co. Ltd. The complex includes six-story buildings with shops, restaurants, and live music and theater venues, as well as a 42-story tower with offices, hotel rooms and residences.

Zeballos said the complex, which opened in the fall, was inspired by the Italian hill towns he has seen, which feature steep staircases and waterfalls. Several buildings also are curved, a design motif drawn from Korean lanterns.

The pairing seems to have worked well. This month, the project won the People’s Choice honor at MIPIM, a large international real estate trade show and conference held at Cannes each year.

Zeballos, who emigrated from Uruguay when he was 14, has worked on two other projects in Korea. He said Los Angeles has contributed to his multicultural career success.

“L.A. has so many people from so many different places, and this is one of the few places that can happen,” he said.