To the exhibition of Tatiana Bilbao at AzW

On Wednesday, August 18, 2021, a vernissage of the exhibition showcasing the successful Mexican studio of architect Tatiana Bilbao took place at the Vienna Museumsquartier with her personal attendance. The Austrian audience thus has the opportunity to become more familiar with her work and ideas for the first time. Tatiana Bilbao is considered one of the important representatives of social coexistence, which takes into account the environment and the inhabitants, a particularly resonant topic in Mexico, where the gap between social classes is widening. The exhibition largely consists of the presentation first showcased last year at the Danish museum Louisiana, from where an extensive exhibition catalog and a video interview with Jacques Herzog, conducted in September 2019 at the Basel studio H&deM, were also brought alongside collages and models. Additionally, the original exhibition has been expanded around the walls with further photographs, collages, and plans from the rich archive of AzW, which, similar to Tatiana Bilbao's work, touches on the theme of landscape.

“Tatiana Bilbao explores and interprets the historical culture and building traditions of Mexico as well as the immediate context of each project. The exhibition examines different dimensions of the landscape that defines the direction of the studio - from natural or urban landscapes to the internal landscape of individual buildings. Tatiana Bilbao's work is very diverse and often arises in collaboration with other architects, landscape architects, and artists: from pilgrimage routes in Mexico to botanical gardens in Culiacán to residential development. Her projects are driven by environmental and social ideas, but also by great poetry. As she says, 'When you come from a country where many people have very few economic resources, you are used to not wasting them.' The exhibition features large-scale installations inside the exhibition hall, as well as in the outdoor space. The majority of the exhibition area is occupied by landscapes from architectural models, which is bordered by 'cabinets' full of various material samples, working models, and sketches. The photographic collages of Tatiana Bilbao addressing various landscape aspects are placed in dialogue with selected exhibits from the AzW collections assembled over her twenty-five-year history.”

Every two weeks, the exhibition will be accompanied by guided tours featuring practicing Vienna studios that address similar social themes through their architecture. Another reason to regularly return to AzW are the film Wednesdays, which feature free architectural-themed film nights in the MQ courtyard. Documentaries awarded at international festivals focusing on landscape, agriculture, and water management will be presented.

The exhibition Tatiana Bilbao Estudio can be viewed at AzW in Vienna until mid-January next year.

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