Tatiana Bilbao Spamer is a Mexican architect whose works often merged geometry with nature. Her practice focuses on sustainable design and social housing.
Biography
Tatiana Bilbao was born in Mexico City, Mexico into a family of architects. She studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana where she obtained her Bachelor of Architecture and Urbanism degree in 1996. In 1998, Bilbao received an honorable mention and was awarded the best architecture thesis of the year.
Early Life
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. In 2004, Bilbao founded MX.DF along with architects Derek Dellekamp, Arturo Ortiz and Michel Rojkind. MX.DF is an urban research center, attending the production of space, its occupation, defense and control in Mexico City. 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 artistAi 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 Architecure 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.
Awards
Bilbao was the recipient the Design Vanguard "Top 10 Emerging Firm" award in 2007. In 2009, Bilbao was named as Emerging Voice by the Architecture League of New York. She received the Kunstpries Berlin award in 2012 and in 2013, she was awarded the CEMEX Building award. In 2014, Bilbao received the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Prize from the LOCUS Foundation and the Cite de L'Architecture of Paris. This award is presented annually to five architects who have shown unique approaches to sustainable development in response to the needs of society. In 2017, Bilbao received the A+Awards Imapct Award for her groundbreaking work in social housing and sustainable design. In 2019, Bilbao received the Marcus Prize. Bilbao has been visiting professor at Andres Bello University, Yale School of Architecture, Peter BehrensSchool 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 alumna mater, Universidad Iberoamericana. 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.
