Tatiana Bilbao: “Architecture Should Benefit Every Single Human Being on This Planet”
As part of a generation of designers that have, in recent years, put Mexico on the map, Tatiana Bilbao is an architect that is increasingly part of the profession’s global consciousness. But, while some Mexican architects have made their mark with spectacular architecture following the international trend of “iconic” architecture, Bilbao opted instead for a more people-focused approach. In this interview, the latest in Vladimir Belogolovsky’s “City of Ideas” series, Bilbao explains how she got into this type of community-building architecture, her thoughts on architectural form, and her ambitions for the future.
Vladimir Belogolovsky: The more I talk to architects of your generation or my generation, the more it becomes apparent that architecture has absolutely no boundaries. In other words, architecture is not just about buildings. More and more, architecture is about building communities.
Tatiana Bilbao: Absolutely. For me, that is the most important part of architecture. Architecture is not about building a building; architecture is about building a community.
Apartment Refurbishment / Aboim Inglez Arquitectos
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Architects: Aboim Inglez Arquitectos
- Area: 250 m²
- Year: 2016
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Professionals: Reformact – Construção & Reabilitação
Low-Budget Urban Garden Uses Local Materials to Bring Quito's Community Together
The social design from Natura Futura Arquitectura for a greenhouse in the warm subtropical climate of Nayón, Ecuador, the proposal approaches the use of local material resources in the construction of low-budget productive structures for the development of the collective.
The project, materialized with bamboo, wood and greenhouse plastic, is based on the basic geometrical figure of the triangle, proposing sectors with different levels of illumination for different types of farming.
House in Altea Hills / RGB arquitectos
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Architects: RGB arquitectos
- Area: 253 m²
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Manufacturers: Clave Ceramic, Noken, Porcelanosa Grupo, Recubrimientos y Aplicaciones Técnicas Hermanos Hernández, S.L.
Independent Place / MW Architects
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Architects: MW Architects
- Area: 25 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Metsa Woods, Alufold, WISA
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Professionals: E&C Building and Design, Structure Mode
Cheese Dairy De Tijd, Westbeemster / Bastiaan Jongerius Architecten
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Architects: Bastiaan Jongerius Architecten
- Area: 15000 m²
- Year: 2015
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Manufacturers: De Groot Vroomshoop, Envirodeck, Rollercate
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Professionals: Feenestra, Visser & Smit Bouw
Yugok Dong Housing Market / On Architects Inc.
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Architects: On Architects Inc.
- Area: 394 m²
- Year: 2017
Naked Gallery — Ecological Creation Technology / Xiaohui Designer Studio
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Architects: Xiaohui Designer Studio
- Area: 347 m²
- Year: 2012
One Place at Riverfront Crossings / Neumann Monson Architects
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Architects: Neumann Monson Architects
- Area: 56000 ft²
- Year: 2015
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Manufacturers: Metal Design Systems, Modus, Viracon, Wausau Window and Wall Systems
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Professionals: MMS Consultants Inc, Confluence, M2B, McComas Lacina Construction, MODUS, +1
Rocio's Hospital / Manoel Coelho Arquitetura e Design + Antonio Abrão Arquitetura
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Architects: Antônio Abrão Arquitetura, Manoel Coelho Arquitetura e Design
- Area: 55300 m²
- Year: 2014
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Manufacturers: Armstrong Ceilings, Beaulieu, Belmetal, Europa, Gdedu, +7
Connexion / Patrick Tighe Architecture
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Architects: Patrick Tighe Architecture
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Birchwood Lighting, Dunn Edwards, Ledconn, Machineous, Tighe Architecture, +1
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Professionals: Hisham Barakat, eSquared Lighting, ARC Engineering, KPRS Inc., Englekirk
YIMBY's 2018 Construction Report has Seen a Decrease in the Height of Buildings
2017’s building applications has seen a rise in both Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to YIMBY’s construction report on New York. Despite a drop within Manhattan and Queens, the number of new building applications over the five boroughs seems to be stabilising; 2016 saw the number of multi-family units decrease by over 40% to 19,356, a pattern which fortunately appears to have stopped as 2017 saw fillings for 19,180. After the last two years of massive drops, this couldn’t be more welcomed by New York.
House in Intermares / Manoel Farias Arquitetura
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Architects: Manoel Farias Arquitetura
- Area: 204 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Cerâmica Portobello, JR Esquadrias, Manufatti, PkS Madeira
Neave Brown, RIBA Gold Medalist Winner, Sadly Passes Away Aged 88
The celebrated modernist architect and innovator of social housing, Neave Brown, has sadly passed away following his battle with cancer.
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History / LEGORRETA
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Architects: LEGORRETA
- Area: 18600 m²
- Year: 2009
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Manufacturers: GRAPHISOFT, Zone Display Cases, Barrisol, Daltile, Mosaicos Venecianos de México®, +1
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Professionals: Linbeck
Postmodern Post-Mortem: Why We Need To Stop Using Architecture's Most Misunderstood Word
We were hoping for it to happen in the early 2000s. We saw it coming with the opening of the exhibition “Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970 – 1990” at the V&A in London in 2011. But now, after recent discussions on the umpteenth supposed “postmodern revival,” it is finally sure: the word “postmodernism” is back and it’s here to stay. But as clear as it is that the word “postmodernism” is once again fashionable, it is not really clear what we mean when using it. Indeed, this word has been used to imply every possible meaning: architects have used it to describe fashionable and “cute” designs, some critics have used it to categorize everything that is colorful, while some theorists have been using it to affirm that, because of this concept, architecture has surrendered to technology or form, becoming nothing more than a caricature of its own presupposed moral values.
Whether we agree with such commentaries or not, there is one thing that we still need to discuss: what does “postmodern” mean? And, even more urgently: what could it mean today? After all, if we have to deal once again with one of the most misinterpreted and contradictory words ever introduced in our field, we should at least discuss what it means, before using it.