Hi, I’m Paulina. 

Or Pau, for short. (pronounced pow). 

I’ve been a designer and maker my whole life, and my career has allowed me to design with things, pixels, and even words. I trained as a mechanical engineer at MIT, where I learned how to make things and how things work, but mostly learned how to ask good questions and slowly answer them. I then spent a while designing computers at Apple, phones and home devices at a Silicon Valley startup, and tablets at Google. I loved the work, from design to manufacturing, but was less enchanted by the hyper consumerism of the industry and the culture. I loved objects, but there were just too many of them in the world.

So I moved to the UK with a few boxes and my bike, and interrogated my relationship to objects in a new setting. I was designing tech experiences, rather than products, by day, and diving into London’s immersive art, theater, and dinner party scene by night. I was drawn to the UK’s history of craftsmanship: I learned to make hats from a milliner and how to pleat from a factory that’s been pleating for a century. I learned about bookbinding from a book, and carpentry from a friend. 

My career had been focused on leading edge design and technology, and yet I was so drawn to true and lasting craftsmanship. I’m now focused on design that brings together the rigor I’ve learned in my career, the dedication to craftsmanship that’s so alive in the UK, and a desire to live sustainably and continue to enjoy designing and owning objects.

I’m from Medellin, Colombia and I now live and work in Edinburgh,UK.