Mitchell Lecture Series: Paola Aguirre Serrano

This talk will be a reflection through practice on design as a platform and tool to convene and create spaces to think collectively about the future of places, communities and cities.

Paola Aguirre Serrano is founder of BORDERLESS — Chicago-based urban design and research practice focused on cultivating collaborative design agency through interdisciplinary projects. With emphasis on exchange and communication across disciplines, Borderless explores creative civic design and engagement interventions that address the complexity of urban systems and social equity by looking at intersections between architecture, urban design, infrastructure, landscape, planning and community participatory processes. Paola is an active educator, and currently teaches architecture at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has taught urban design at the Sam Fox School of Design Washington University in St. Louis and social impact design at Archeworks. 

She has 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, 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, and recently appointed by the City of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot as Commissioner of Chicago Landmarks and member of the Cultural Advisory Council. Paola received a M. of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard School of Design.