Tatiana Bilbao

Tatiana Bilbao Spamer (born 1972) is a Mexican architect whose works often merged geometry with nature. Her practice focuses on sustainable design, museum design and social housing.

She founded Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO in 2004 and has completed projects in China, France, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, among others. Representative projects include the Botanical Garden of Culiacán, Sinaloa, the exhibition hall of a park located in Jinhua, China and a prototype of sustainable social housing of with the capacity to duplicate with a cost of 120 thousand Mexican pesos, that was presented at the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015, and originally screened in Chiapas, Mexico.

Bilbao's work has been recognized with the Berliner Kunstpreis in 2012, the 2010 Architectural League Emerging Voices, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture by the LOCUS Foundation in 2014, and the Impact Award 2017 to the Architizer A+Awards Honorees, along with the 2020 Tau Sigma Delta Gold Medal and the 2019 Marcus Prize Award.

Biography Tatiana Bilbao was born in Mexico City into a family of architects. Her grandfather was Tomás Bilbao Hospitalet, a Basque-origin architect and politician who fled Spain and settled in Mexico in 1942.

She studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana where she obtained her Bachelor of Architecture and Urbanism degree in 1996.

Early life Bilbao's work was influenced by her political interest in Mexico City. In 1985 the government was faced with a great need for housing after a major earthquake. This caused the government to make mass-produced housing with over 2.5 million houses being built in the course of six years. Bilbao hated seeing developers take land and the identity of Mexico. So Bilbao met with architects and Infonavit, the federally owned bank that grants massive housing loans, to start reconvening new city centers and creating satellite urban environments. As Bilbao became more influential different configurations of houses were designed with high resale value. Bilbao then started designing housing for under 8k for the lower-class which led to her focus on social housing.

In 1998–99, Bilbao worked as an advisor for Urban Projects at the Urban Housing and Development Department of Mexico City. During that time, she also worked as advisor of the Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda del Gobierno del Distrito Federal, a government agency that oversees urban development and housing in Mexico City. Bilbao co-founded LCM in 1999 which explores uncharted geometries and generates unprecedented spaces. Also in 2004, she founded Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, to work on projects in China, Europe and Mexico. The first project built by her studio was the exhibition pavilion in Jinhua Architecture Park, led and coordinated by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei who selected a group of young architects from around the world to design and develop a large park with a network of pavilions on the shore of the Yiwu River, close to Shanghai. The exhibition pavilion of Jinhua Architecture Park is one of Bilbao's more famous works. Completed in 2007, this embedded pavilion features multiple levels and strategic blocking.

Her diverse work includes the Botanical Garden in Culiacán, a master plan and open chapel for a Pilgrimage Route in Jalisco, a Biotechnological Center for a Tech Institution, a sustainable housing prototype, and a funeral home. Bilbao has worked to create low-cost housing to solve Mexico's social housing problem. So far, Bilbao has built 32 houses for this program which helps low-income individuals afford their own home.

Recent years In 2005, she joined the Architecture and Urbanism career at the Universidad Iberoamericana as a Design professor. In 2008, she was appointed visiting professor at the Andrés Bello University, in Santiago de Chile. Bilbao has been visiting professor at Andres Bello University, Yale School of Architecture, Peter Behrens School of Architecture, and the Rice School of Architecture. Bilbao taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and was a professor of design at her alma mater, Ibero-American University.

In 2017 Bilbao curated, in collaboration with Gonzalo Ortega, the exhibition Perspectives: Tatiana Bilbao Estudio organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO) in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, where their projects produced in the period from 2004 to 2017 were presented. This sample was also presented at the Amparo Museum in Puebla

In 2019, the Louisiana Museum in Denmark presented a homonymous exhibition about Bilbao's work within the series "The Architect's Studio", this exhibition belongs to the second edition where internationally renowned architects have participated showing their architectural career. In this exhibition, you can see how Mexican culture and traditions play an essential role in her work as well as her commitment to social and sustainable architecture. Likewise, there is a collaboration with the National Museum of Art of Mexico City, MUNAL, and works by artists such as José María Velasco and Dr. Atl will be presented.

Awards Bilbao was the recipient of the Design Vanguard "Top 10 Emerging Firm" award in 2007. In 2019, Bilbao received the Marcus Prize.

Tatiana Bilbao's projects are part of the collection of the Centre d'Art George Pompidou in Paris, France, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Projects "Exhibition Room" designed by Bilbao at Jinhua Architecture Park. Mazatlán Aquarium, 2017–2021 (expected completion) Anahuacalli Museum Extension, Mexico City, Mexico, 2016. 2,295.0 m square. Los Terrenos, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, 480 sqm, 2016. Observatory House, La Blanca, Mexico, 2009. (2008–2010) Exhibition Room in Jinhua Architecture Park, Zheijiang, China, 1’800 sqm, 2004–2006 Apartment Building, Polanco, Mexico, 2005 Pilgrim's Route, Between Ameca and Talpa de Allende, Mexico, 2008 – 2010 Casa Ventura, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León, Mexico, 2008 – 2011 Bioinnova, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, 2008 – 2012 Ajijic House, Chapala Lake, Jalisco, Mexico, 2010 – 2011 Monarch Sustainable Neighbourhood Angangueo, Angangueo, Michoacan, Mexico, 2010 – 2013 Los Terrenos, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, 2012 – 2016 Housing +, San Cristobal, Chiapas and Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico, 2013 – 2015 Lyon La Confluence, Ilot A3, La Confluence, Lyon France, 2013 – 2017 Territorio De Gigantes, Aguascalientes, Mexico, 2013 – 2018 Sorteo Tec House, San Pedro Garza, Monterrey, New Mexico, 2014 – 2016 Solo House, Solo, Spain, 2014 – 2016 Casa Del Parque, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 2014 – 2018 Central Park Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, 2015 – 2018 Guatemala Tower, Guatemala, Guatemala, 2015 – 2018 Hunter's Point Masterplan, San Francisco, California, USA, 2016 Estoa – UDEM, Monterrey, Mexico, 2016 – 2019 Anahuacalli, Museo Anahuacalli, Coyoacan, City of Mexico, Mexico, 2017 (Not) Another – Tower Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, USA, 2017 -2018 Apan Housing: Ocoyoacac Minimum Housing, Apan, Hidalgo, Mexico, 2017 – 2018 Casa Marbel and Casa Pedro y Paz, Estado de Mexico, Mexico, 2018 – 2019 Ways of Life, Sheid, Hasse, Germany, In Process Urban Redensification – Apodoca, Apodoca, Nuevo León, Mexico, In Process Collegium, Arevalo, Avila, Spain, In Process Research Center of the Sea of Cortes, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, In Process Substation, San Francisco, California, USA, In Process Staterra, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, In Process Olive West Masterplan, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, In Process Silica II – Roble 700, San Pedro Garcia, Mexico, In Process

Investigation and another works Research project as a fellow of the Graham Foundation, Twelve Archaeologies of Mexico City's Housing at a Crossroads, 2016 – 2019 Museography for the Exhibition The Rights of Dance: Alexander Calder, Museo Jumex, Mexico City, March – June 2015 Museography for the Exhibition The Implications of the Image, Puebla Gallery, Puebla, Mexico, October 2009 – January 2010 Museography for the Mexico Expected / Unexpected Exhibition in Maision Rouge, Paris, France, October 2008 – February 2010 Museography for the YAG Exhibition at La Planta, Guadalajara, Jalisco, November 2007 – March 20* 08 Participation in Stonemasonry in Context, workshop conducted by MIT, Cambridge University and ESTAM, B. Mallorca, Summer 2009