When architects discuss sustainability, some refer to long-standing principles of good design. They speak of a sustainable future in which human demands — defined in the broadest sense possible — are met first and foremost. Tatiana Bilbao agrees with them.

She is less preoccupied with quantitative metrics such as energy use — though these factor into her thinking as well. A more critical trigger is the social and psychological impact on occupants: how architecture might affect the quality of their lives and the vicissitudes they face.

Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO explores the idea of care in a collaborative, participatory manner.
© Ana Hop, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO

Tatiana started her career in the government. At the time, she was seeking to shape policy and raise the yardsticks of the built environment. She quickly realised that policymakers are not immune to the capitalist onslaught she blames for an over-reliance on homogenised solutions which, more often than not, miss the mark.

In the practice she now leads, the human condition is unpacked early on in the design process. Sometimes these efforts target requisites unmet directly, but they can also be levelled at how needs are defined, ideologically or philosophically.

Acuña Housing Prototype aims to provide a modular and affordable residential solution for Mexican families.
© Jaime Navarro, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO

With the Acuña Housing Prototype (Coahuila, Mexico), for instance, Tatiana reassessed prevailing concepts about dwellings. The residential module she proposed can be adapted to fit urban and rural lifestyles or geographical, social and cultural provisions. The structure becomes a way to empower its users.

Many architects would worry that a participatory method might strip them of authorship. Not Tatiana. Architecture, she insists, cannot emerge from a single mind. Her work invites active engagement, promoting synergistic alliances with fellow architects, artists, craftsmen, economists, local authorities and the community.

Tatiana’s signature collages were showcased at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk, Denmark) in 2019.
© Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO

That desire to challenge conventions also shows up on the drawing board. Instead of architectural renderings, she composes collages that loosely frame buildings and their contexts, defy expectations and leave room for interpretation.

Sparking the imagination upfront even sets the tone for constructive exchanges with clients. Case in point: the Botanical Garden in Culiacán (Sinaloa, Mexico), for which the studio recommended concrete for the on-site pavilions over bamboo, the eco-friendly material favoured by the client. In a region where scorching days are a regular occurrence, it would deliver higher energy efficiency in hermetically sealed and air-conditioned spaces.

For the Botanical Garden in Culiacán, concrete was selected as a more ‘responsible’ choice to cool down interiors in the Mexican environment.
© Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO

Tatiana’s approach pays greater attention to the primary role of buildings as shelters than it does to many ‘undiscerning’ sustainability precepts.

The symbiotic relationship architecture shares with the natural world — and how it shapes the human experience — takes on many guises in her projects. The Research Centre of The Sea of Cortes in Mazatlán (Sinaloa, Mexico), for one, offers visitors a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in a porous grid of concrete walls and open-to-sky courtyards, overrun by the surrounding wild and luxuriant flora.

The Research Centre of The Sea of Cortes was designed to evoke a ruin taken over by the elements.
© Christian Belmont, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO

The Research Centre puts visitors in close contact with nature to better appraise its ecosystems.
© Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO

Tatiana is a passionate proponent of good architecture which, she believes, not only nourishes the soul but provides comfort and care. Good architecture is the foundation that allows green design to flourish. For her, sustainability means little if buildings can’t address first and foremost, fairly and equitably, the underlying human condition.