Alejandro Zaera-Polo (born Madrid, 1963) is an accomplished contemporary architect. His work has consistently merged the practice of architecture with theoretical practice, deftly integrating architecture, urban design and landscape architecture in his projects. His practice has produced critically acclaimed and award winning projects for the public and private sector on an international scale.

He trained at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, graduating with Honors, and went on to do a Master in Architecture (MARCH Il) at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA, where he graduated with Distinction. He worked at OMA in Rotterdam between 1991 and 1993, prior to establishing Foreign Office Architects in 1993, and AZPML in 2011.

Alejandro Zaera-Polo has also had an extensive involvement in education at an international level since

1993. He is a tenured professor at Princeton SoA. He was the Dean of Princeton SoA 2012-2014 and of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam from 2000-2005 where he held the Berlage Chair at the Technical University in Delft, the Netherlands. He was the inaugural recipient of the Norman Foster professorship at Yale University School of Architecture between 2010 and 2011, and has been a Visiting Critic at Columbia GSAPP and UCLA School of Architecture. He led a Diploma Unit between 1993 and 1999 at the Architectural Association in London.

In addition to his professional and academic roles, Alejandro Zaera-Polo is recognized as an original theorist and thinker of contemporary architecture, with a sharp capacity to identify social and political trends and translate them into the architectural discourse. His texts can be found in many professional publications such as El Croquis, Quaderns, A+U, Arch+, Log, AD and Harvard Design Magazine.