Shangri-La It may be used in this context alongside other mythical and famous examples of somewhat similar metaphors such as El Dorado, The Fountain of Youth, and The Holy Grail. Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. In the novel, the people who live at Shangri-La
James Hilton (designer) also Visiting Professor at Southampton Solent University. As a writer and columnist, Hilton has contributed to books on creativity and thought leadership including "Velocity", which he also designed, and "Spark For The Fire". He writes for the magazine Campaign and is a regular columnist for Shots. Hilton lives in Dulwich, South London. James Hilton (designer) James Hilton is an English designer based in London. He co-founded the creative agency AKQA together with Ajaz Ahmed in 1995 and over twenty years grew it to become one the worlds most successful digital agencies. In 2014 Hilton left AKQA to found the experimental