Imagine your childhood school closing forever. How do we reimagine these spaces and reclaim them for community empowerment? In this insightful and inspiring talk, Paola Aguirre Serrano takes us on a journey of design justice, exploring art and architecture's role in revitalizing closed schools and reimagining the future of social infrastructure in our communities. Serrano shares her experiences and research, highlighting how these once vibrant places can be transformed into hubs of community engagement and creativity. She invites us to rethink the possibilities for these abandoned spaces, emphasizing the power of collective action and design to create a more just and equitable society. Paola Aguirre Serrano, a native of the US-Mexico border region, urban designer and partner at Borderless Studio in Chicago and San Antonio, leads innovative and collaborative projects promoting spatial justice and equitable design. Recognized for her contributions, she received the Emerging Voices Award (2022) from The Architecture League of New York, the Perez Prize in Public Art and Civic Design by Americans for the Arts (2022), and the Creative Placemaking Award (2022) from the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation. Paola, a civic design steward, previously served as Commissioner of Chicago Landmarks and currently advises the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Latino. She holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design.