Paola Aguirre Serrano and Dennis Milam are partners at Borderless Studio, an architecture and urban design practice based in San Antonio and Chicago guided by spatial justice and equitable design values, and rooted in research, collaboration, and meaningful exchanges. Founded in 2016, Borderless’ work reimagines spaces collectively, fostering multicultural, multidisciplinary teams to drive collaborative design with tangible outcomes while cultivating civic leadership by and through design. Borderless has contributed to the Chicago Architecture Biennial (2019, 2021) and been recognized by the MacArthur Creative Placemaking Award (2022) and the Architectural League of New York Emerging Voices (2022).

Aguirre Serrano is an urban designer and native to the desert landscape of Northern Mexico in Chihuahua. Raised in the complexity of the border region, she shapes her design practice with a multicultural approach to challenge dominant narratives, physical boundaries, and their systems. Her professional journey spans her “Chi-Towns” (Chihuahua and Chicago) and now San Antonio, and is invested in community service and civic leadership. 

Milam is an architect raised in the Midwest landscape where he was influenced by cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, and towns in the Illinois-Wisconsin border. His practice was shaped by working with renowned architecture firms in New York, Vienna, Chicago, and Dubai in a range of projects such as civic amenities, cultural institutions, and skyscrapers. Milam leverages his expertise and commitment to quality, efficiency, and aesthetic beauty to connect global knowledge with hyper-local solutions.  Both are also active educators currently teaching at the University of Texas in San Antonio.