Paola Aguirre Serrano and Dennis Milam will present a lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the U of A campus, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design.

Aguirre Serrano and Milam are partners with Borderless Studio in Chicago, Illinois. They are also the school's Fall 2022 Together in Diversity and Design presenters.

In their lecture, "Designing With, Not For," they will explore case study projects that showcase different approaches and collaboration frameworks addressing spatial justice and equitable design through the experience of Borderless. This design and research practice is focused on cultivating collaborative design agency through interdisciplinary projects based in Chicago and San Antonio.

With an emphasis on exchange and communication across disciplines, 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, planning and community processes. Borderless' work has been recently 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).

Aguirre Serrano is an urban designer and partner at Borderless since 2016. A native from the Mexico-U.S. region, she 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 National Museum of the American Latino.

Aguirre Serrano received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Institute Superior de Arquitectura y Diseño de Chihuahua and a Master of Architecture in urban design from the Harvard School of Design. She's been recognized with honors that include 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) and The Americans for the Arts Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design (2022).

Milam has been a partner at Borderless since 2019. He has more than 15 years of professional experience, including working closely with private clients, developers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and architecture and engineering offices in the United States, Austria, Middle East and Asia on projects of various scales — private residences to large-scale, mixed-use projects — from conception to completion. His global project experience includes working in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and Tower 535 in Hong Kong. His project experience in the Midwest includes the Roche Diagnostics Center in Indianapolis, Chinatown Public Library, Optimo Hat Company and Public Art Hyle Plaza in Chicago.

Milam has developed a strong capacity to collaborate with client groups, design and consultant teams in a variety of specialties. He is currently working with ConTextos in the design of their Chicago headquarters. This non-profit organization based in Chicago and El Salvador is dedicated to support healing processes for communities and youth affected by violence through literary arts and education. He is a licensed architect in Illinois and Texas and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.

The school is pursuing continuing education credits for this lecture through the American Institute of Architects.

This lecture is open to the public. Admission is free, with limited seating.

For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu.