We met with Tatjana Bilbao, one of the forerunners of contemporary architecture from Mexico, to discuss the challenges that architecture and architects face today.
“How can we create architecture that becomes a platform for anyone to create their own existence?”
“Architecture is about protection and inspiration. It provides the shelter needed, but not only that. We humans need to be challenged and inspired to grow.”
“Architecture that does that will change everything. Today’s cities are built for production. The house for the productive human being – a place of rest for the person who has to be healthy, fed, clean to go to work and produce. The stones embed all of this.”
Tatiana Bilbao (b. 1972) is a Mexican architect. To her, the landscape plays a crucial role, and she works with it on various scales—from the Mexican countryside through urban scenes to the ‘internal landscape’ of the individual building. In 2004, she founded Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO in Mexico City. At the core of the studio’s practice is an analysis of the context surrounding projects, which range from masterplans to affordable housing typologies.
The studio’s architectural work includes ESTOA, an institutional building on the UDEM campus that has received the special CEMEX Award in 2021. The Culiacán Botanical Garden, the Pilgrimage Route in Jalisco, a social housing prototype displayed at the 2015 Chicago Biennial that costs under USD 8,000, three buildings of housing in Lyon la Confluence, a research center of the Sea of Cortez on Mazatlan, and more recently the Mexican American Cultural in Austin Texas, and a Masterplan for the National Park La Huasteca.
In 2019, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio was the featured architecture firm in the Architect’s Studio series of exhibitions hosted by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. The studio has had work featured in the Graham Foundation, Chicago Architecture Biennial, Venice Biennale, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Museo Amparo, T-Space Gallery, and Centre Pompidou, to name a few.
Bilbao holds a recurring teaching position at Yale University School of Architecture and has taught at Harvard University GSD, AA Association in London, Columbia University GSAPP, Rice University, University of Andrés Bello in Chile, and Peter Behrens School of Arts at HS Dusseldorf in Germany. Her work has been published in The New York Times, A + U, and Domus. Bilbao is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the Kunstpreis Berlin in 2012, the UNESCO Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Prize in 2014, and the Impact Award 2017 Honorees for Architzier A + Awards. In 2021, Bilbao was the Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), and in 2022 the AW Architect of the Year.
Tatiana Bilbao was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition (The Biennale Architettura 2023) in Venice, Italy. The interview took place in May 2023.
Camera: Simon Weyhe
Edited by: Signe Boe Pedersen
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2024
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling. This film is supported by Dreyersfond and Fritz Hansen.
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