German Pallares Avitia

Germán Pallares-Avitia is a registered Mexican architect and scholar. He holds a MArch from the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya and a PhD in history and theory of architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. His research lies at the intersection of modernization, cultural relations, borders and politics in the context of Latin America and the US.

Germán’s work is interdisciplinary, drawing on fields such as border and chicano studies, as well as environmental history and urbanism and explores concepts to refine understandings of territories, nations, identity and migration as they relate to architectural and urban conditions. Germán’s research project @the_postborderzone examines the built environment of the borderlands as a series of sites in which residents often exchange places and have daily access to cultural, social and commercial activities across political divides.

An SEI Research Fellow at RISD from 2021–23, Germán has taught studio as well as history and theory courses at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Lehigh University, and Tec de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe in Mexico City, where he was chair of the architecture program and managed collaborative academic projects with international offices such as Zaha Hadid Architects and others. He has been a guest critic in México, Spain and the US and has collaborated with Legorreta Arquitectos as a project designer/manager on projects for the Aga Kahn Foundation.