Paola Aguirre Serrano

Paola Aguirre Serrano is a native from the Mexico-U.S. region, urban designer and partner at Borderless since 2016. BORDERLESS is a design and research practice based in San Antonio and Chicago focused on approaches and frameworks addressing spatial justice and equitable design while cultivating collaborative design agency. With emphasis on interdisciplinary exchange, Borderless explores creative civic design and engagement interventions that address the complexity of urban systems and spatial equity by looking at intersections between architecture, urban design, infrastructure, landscape, civic arts, planning and community engagement processes. Borderless’ work has been recognized by The Architecture League of New York with the Emerging Voices Award (2022), and the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation’s Creative Placemaking Award (2022).

Paola is an active civic design steward. She has served as Commissioner of Chicago Landmarks and the Cultural Advisory Council of the City of Chicago, and currently serves in the Scholarly Advisory Committee for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino. She’s co-founder of community-led design initiatives such as Design Trust Chicago, Creative Grounds and Borderless Workshop. Paola is also an active educator having taught at Archeworks, the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, the Sam Fox School of Art and Design at Washington University, the Ezkenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design at Indiana University, and the University of Texas San Antonio.

She’s been acknowledged by Next City Vanguard’s 40 Under 40 (2016), Impact Design Hub’s 40 Under 40 (2017), Newcity Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago (2018, 2020), Emerging Planner Award by the American Planning Association – Illinois Chapter (2018), Field Foundation Civic Leader for Racial Equity (2019), Chicago United for Equity Fellow (2019), AIA Chicago’s Distinguished Service Award (2020), Americans for the Arts Jorge and Darlene Perez Prize in Public Art and Civic Design (2022), Landmarks Illinois Preservation Forward Award (2023). Paola received a B. of Architecture from the Institute Superior de Arquitectura y Diseño de Chihuahua, and M. of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard School of Design.