Frida Escobedo, youngest Serpentine Pavilion architect, on her practice and future

Frida Escobedo, born in Mexico City in 1979, became the youngest architect to design the Serpentine Pavilion in 2018 at age 39. She studied at Universidad Iberoamericana and Harvard GSD. Her pavilion, inspired by El Lissitzky's Prouns, features a concrete tile celosia, mirrored ceiling, and water triangle, creating fragmented spatial experiences. Escobedo views architecture, art, and design as 'spatial practices,' a lesson from Harvard. Her career includes the restoration of David Alfaro Siqueiros's Tallera in Cuernavaca, the Eco Pavilion in Mexico City (2010), Civic Stage at Lisbon Triennale (2013), Randolph Square for Chicago Biennial (2017), and Estación No.6 at Orléans Architecture Biennale. She won the AR Emerging Architecture Award 2015 and was named Emerging Voice 2017 by the Architectural League of New York. Currently, her Taller is involved in ReConstruir Mx, a post-earthquake reconstruction initiative in Ocuilan, Mexico, working on a housing unit with local materials. Other projects include Mar Tirreno (collective residences in Mexico City), two hotels in Puebla and Bacalar, public spaces in Miami and San Francisco, and private residences in Mexico City and Madrid. Escobedo aims to continue exploring public space and hopes for more opportunities like the Serpentine. Her team of eight professionals from Mexico, the US, and Italy maintains a horizontal, conceptual approach. The pavilion opened on June 15, 2018, in Kensington Gardens, London.