Here we present the second video from the series “Time-Space-Existence“, a truly inspiring interview to Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao.

The video was produced by our media partner PLANE-SITE, commissioned by the GAA Foundation, and funded by the ECC in preparation for the Time-Space-Existence exhibition, which will take place in Venice during the Architecture Biennale 2018.

One of the most interesting figures of today’s architectural scene, Tatiana Bilbao (b. 1972, Mexico City) talks about the key principles upon which her design vision is based.

In the interview she particularly develops three points.

The first is the importance of designing for people over aesthetics,“It’s not the shape of a building, it’s what it does to people (…) I’m not going to debate (other people’s) way of reacting towards an aesthetic part of the building, but I’m always going to debate whether that beauty even serves the people that are intended to inhabit this space (…) architecture is making places and spaces by people, for people” Bilbao says in the video.

The second is to design in a simple and efficient way, by using locally available materials, and taking the constraints and short budgets, which most architects experience in the projects they develop, as an opportunity to design with efficiency and inventiveness.

The third point is the awareness of the social role of architects which implies, for example, to give a proper value to hand labor, and to go back into social housing design, a field which seems to have been wiped away from most architects’ interests for the the last fifty years.

Cover image and all photos courtesy of PLANE-SITE

The video (click on the arrow to play)

About Time-Space-Existence

Time, space and existence. These three concepts sketch out the contours of the world around us — a fact especially true within architecture. Taking these words as its starting point, the GAA Foundation is set to curate its fourth collateral exhibition in the context of La Biennale di Venezia Architettura, entitled Time-Space-Existence and opening in May 2018. Featuring over 100 established and emerging architects, and unapologetically international in breadth, the exhibition provides a fascinating complement to a biennial traditionally drawn along national lines.

Useful links

PLANE-SITE: https://plane-site.com/

GAA Foundation: http://www.globalartaffairs.org

European Cultural Centre (ECC): http://www.europeanculturalcentre.eu/index.php

Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO: https://www.tatianabilbao.com/

Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Ventura House, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, 2008-2011; © Rory Gardiner

Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Sustainable Housing and public space in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, 2015; © Jaime Navarro

Hunters Point master plan (detail), 2016; © Tatiana Bilbao Estudio

Torre Guatemala, Guatemala City, 2015-2018; © Tatiana Bilbao Estudio