Forms of Care: Tatiana Bilbao on Responsibility, Opportunity, and Staying True to Your Values

By Julia Gamolina

Tatiana Bilbao began her eponymous studio in 2004 with the aim of integrating social values, collaboration and sensitive design approaches to architectural work. The work of the office intersects with research allowing to design for diverse circumstances and in reconstruction or crisis scenarios. Prior to founding her firm, Bilbao was an Advisor in the Ministry of Development and Housing of the Government of the Federal District of Mexico City, during this period she was part of the General Development Directorate of the Advisory Council for Urban Development in the City.

Bilbao holds a recurring teaching position at Yale University School of Architecture and has taught at Harvard University GSD, AA Association in London, Columbia University GSAPP, Rice University, University of Andrés Bello in Chile, and Peter Behrens School of Arts at HS Dusseldorf in Germany. Her work has been published in The New York Times, A + U, Domus, among others.

Also, Bilbao has been recognized with the Kunstpreis Berlin in 2012, was named in 2010 as an Emerging Voice by the Architecture League of New York, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Prize by the LOCUS Foundation in 2014, as well as the Impact Award 2017 Honorees for Architizer A + Awards, the Marcus Prize Award 2019, Tau Sigma Delta Gold Medal of 2020, and the Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) in 2021. In her interview with Julia Gamolina, Tatiana talks about providing care as an architect, advising those just starting their careers not to rush, and to hold on to their values.

JG: Let’s start from the beginning - tell me about your childhood! Where did you grow up, and what did you like to do?

TB: I grew up in Mexico City, in a very central neighborhood. My whole upbringing was in this urban environment - all grey concrete - but my street was very beautiful, as a lot of streets in Mexico City are, because it had a lot of trees. I grew up in a family of two working professors - my mom always worked with little kids, in kindergarten, and my dad was the director of the entire school and also taught the high school kids. My parents both studied physics and mathematics.

I grew up very aware of architecture because my grandfather was an architect. Actually, half of my family are architects, so it's a profession that kind of runs in the family [laughs].

Botanical Garden, photography courtesy of Iwan Baan.

Botanical Garden Auditorium, photography by Iwan Baan.

Botanical Garden educational spaces, photography by Iwan Baan.

When you then studied architecture, what did you learn specifically about yourself?

I learned that I’m an architect, on the inside - I didn’t feel like I had to become one, I already was one. My family used to say that I had it in my blood because of my ancestors, but I think it’s much more than that. I actually think all of us are architects because we all need protective structures to survive and inhabit this planet. We cannot live exposed to nature, and architecture is a basic human necessity. For me, since the very first day that I started doing this, I always saw architecture as a huge responsibility because its acting in one of the most important necessities of the human being to continue to exist. I always knew I had a huge responsibility.

How did you get your start working in the field?

Very organically. When I first finished school, I started working for the ministry of urban planning and social housing in Mexico City. I thought that this was my dream job - my thesis focused on humanizing the city center of Mexico City, making sure all of the streets were accessible to pedestrians, things like this. So, when I was offered this job, it was the only place I wanted to be. So that’s what I did for two years.

I left because I thought that we would be making spaces for the city. But, what I learned, is that in Mexico, the city becomes what it is not by being planned, but by simply being built. A lot of things were implemented by the private sector. They collaborated with the public sector, but this meant that within the public sector, there were a lot of issues relating to conflict of interest. I realized that the ministry does not work in the interest of the people of Mexico, but in the interest of various political and financial forces and ambitions. This experience was very revealing for me, and I’m glad it was revealed to me early in my career. Also the work itself was very bureaucratic - every day was about paperwork, signatures, and approvals.

“There are many people that really know how to build their own habitat, without the necessity of going to a school and making it their profession. Those are also the most knowledgeable people because they have been perfecting this understanding and this craft for centuries. And, they’ve been living with what they’ve built. Those people are who I admire the most.”

— Tatiana Bilbao

What did you do when you realized this work isn’t quite for you?

At the same time, I was very close with the Director of Urban Planning. She was doing all kinds of lectures all over the world, so I had to push myself into these spaces where I was helping her put the lectures together. I did a lot of research and read a lot of really interesting things. I felt like I got my Masters, my PhD, and a second PhD in the span of two years [laughs].

From there, I ran into a peer of mine from school in a restaurant. After school, he went to work for Rem Koolhaas and Alvaro Siza, and then when he came back, he wanted to start a firm. He asked me if I wanted to join! I remember thinking, “Where do I sign up?!” So I joined him, and there were four of us. We were doing a lot of competitions, and generally staying very active, through lectures and our own conceptualized projects. It was all really fun, and really intense, and this way we created a practice.

When did you start your own studio?

After four years. I realized that I was not in a place where I could share any of the ethos behind the work with these guys, and I decided to leave. At that time, I have to admit that I questioned whether or not I should continue with architecture, or if I should start my own bakery [laughs].

Do you bake?!

Yes, I love to cook. But because those last years of working and running a studio were very intense years, I thought that maybe architecture was not for me and that I should do something completely different. However, when I pulled myself out of my former partnership, since I had brought a lot of people to it, I took them all with me, and we finished the projects that we had going on together. I did, and by finishing those projects, I got new projects, and all of the sudden I realized that I had eight people working in my dining room, and that I better become an official new office. So I opened my own office!

Research Center of the Sea of Cortes, courtesy of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio

Design process for the Research Center of the Sea of Cortes, courtesy of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio

Photo of the construction of the Research Center of the Sea of Cortes, courtesy of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio

In the years that you’ve had your own practice now, how have you evolved personally? It takes so much to run an enterprise like the one you’ve built, that I can’t even imagine all that you’ve gone through.

In the moment that I founded my office, one of the reasons I hesitated was because I felt like I was starting all over, and I had already started a studio from scratch, four years ago! I remembered how much work that was, and obstacles, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that again. At that time, everyone in architecture wanted to have their own office, but no one ever taught any of us how to start and run an office. That’s a moment when I wished that I had worked for a big office, so that I could see how things were done and run. My learning curve in my former office was so high, that I felt like I would have to go through it all again. But, little by little, I understood that while I was indeed starting again, I wasn’t starting from the same point as before. I did know how to organize an office, how to pay the taxes, how to maintain the staffing - all that you learn from experience. So, I went for it!

I will say that in all of these years, every day is as much hard work as day one - it never becomes less intense. But, in this process, I’ve come to realize that I don’t work as an architect - I am an architect, and I don’t see that as a burden! I do this, because I am this! In the same way as I am a mother, I am an architect. It’s something that I do because it's simply who I am.

Where do you feel like you are in your career today, and what are you most excited for right now?

That’s a difficult question [laughs]. I definitely feel like I’m in a place where I’m much more comfortable because I feel more honest. I feel that I know much more who I am and what I like to do, and what the purpose of my existence here is, and because of this, I can be truer to those values than I had ever been before. I understand them much better, and I understand how to do it much better.

“...in all of these years, every day is as much hard work as day one - it never becomes less intense. But, in this process, I’ve come to realize that I don’t work as an architect - I am an architect, and I don’t see that as a burden! In the same way as I am a mother, I am an architect.”

— Tatiana Bilbao

What are those values? How would you describe the impact you’d like to have on the world?

I always understood that architecture is a form of care. Because of that, we have a really huge responsibility, as I mentioned in the beginning - we are providing a form of care for someone else. I always thought that the most serious and responsible profession is to be a doctor, since you are literally helping people to exist, but I think architecture is very much an extension of that. And beyond that, architecture can inspire us and make our lives better. So beyond medicine, I think architecture is the second most important form of care.

Who are you admiring right now?

Anyone that is really conscious of the way that they are able to understand their own space to inhabit. There are many people that really know how to build their own habitat, without the necessity of going to a school and making it their profession. Those are also the most knowledgeable people because they have been perfecting this understanding and this craft for centuries. And, they’ve been living with what they’ve built. Those people are who I admire the most, and I hope us as official architects understand that there are millions of people, if not everyone, that know how to inhabit the world around us.

That’s amazing. I’m reading a book called Baseline Shift: Untold Stories of Women in Graphic Design History by Briar Levit, and the first essay is about Angel De Cora, a Native American artist. She talks about how everyone in her community is an amazing craftsperson - she’s just the one that chose to engage her skill with the Western world.

Exactly. That’s really beautiful.

Ways of Life, courtesy of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio

What would you say have been the biggest challenges for you? In your career, and in life?

To be honest, I have always thought that I’m hyper privileged. I don’t think I could dare to say that there have been challenges because I’ve had so many opportunities, and those opportunities led to other opportunities and possibilities. I do understand that I am in a very privileged position in many ways. A lot of people might think that being a woman has been a challenge for me, but I have to say that it’s actually been an incredible opportunity and privilege.

I feel like I arrived at the right place at the right time - I don’t think I have exceptional capacity compared to anyone, I think I was just very lucky to be in a moment where being a woman who had her own office, and being one of very few, was an opportunity. I don’t know what someone with the same capabilities and the same platform as me would have faced ten years earlier than I did, or ten years later. In my case, when I started my office, there really weren’t a lot of other women in the same position, and so I got a lot of opportunities because any time someone wanted an architect that was a woman, they would say, “Let’s call Tatiana.” They couldn’t have only male submissions for competitions, so they would call me. For exhibitions, for lectures too. I was a lot younger than a lot of other architects, but because I was the only one of something, I was invited. And that’s how you create a career, through opportunity! If you have intelligence and talent but no opportunities, it’s really tough to do so.

It truly is a combination of so many factors, luck certainly one of them, but there is no doubt that your talent and thoughtfulness also got you to where you are today. With that in mind, what are you most proud of?

My girls. I have two girls, and three stepchildren. It’s a great number. Since I was little, I always wanted four children. A lot of things happened in between though - I got married very young, I got divorced not so young [laughs]. And then I met my now husband, and he had three kids, which was really exciting. Then I had my first child at thirty-nine...things just happen when they happen.

I’m lucky that by the time I did have my kids though, I had built my body of work. So when I had them, I had the infrastructure of care that I needed, that could hold everything together. Of course it was challenging, especially in their early years, and especially when the second one arrived, but I think having the maturity and the network that I did, allowed me to create a situation where these children are being raised by a lot of people, which was very healthy and very helpful. It does take a village to raise a child, and I think we as a society are losing that a little bit! People are aiming to be these perfect parents, which is completely unsustainable, and has never truly been the model that sustains itself. So, create a village to raise your children before you have them [laughs].

That is great advice. Lastly, what advice do you have for those just starting their career in architecture?

This is a very good question - I always get asked this, and what I always say is that you should never give up on your own ideas and values. Never violate them. There is no amount of money, or prestige, that will make you feel good about not staying true to your ethos.

Also, life does not happen in 140 characters. Life is long, and you can’t rush things. And, things don’t happen fast! Things take time, and in order to really hold on to your values and to put things into the world that are truly meaningful, you need time. So, hold on to your values, never give up on them, and good things will come.