In the final instalment of the Dezeen x Miami Design Talks series, architects Tatiana Bilbao and Carlos Zapata discussed Miami’s role as a hub for Latin American architecture and design.
Moderated by Dezeen’s founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs, the panel comprised Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao, Venezuelan architect Carlos Zapata and Joseph Schwarzkopf of Ecuadorian developer Uribe Schwarzkopf.
Miami has often been referred to in the media as “the capital of Latin America”. This live conversation explored the influences that the city has on Latin American architecture and vice versa.
Bilbao is the director of architecture practice Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, which she set up in 2009. Her work is characterised by a sensitive approach to design that integrates social values and embraces collaboration.
For example, in 2019, Bilbao teamed up with 32 architects and studios to created low-cost housing designs as part of an innovative community development in Hidalgo, Mexico.
Prior to founding her firm, Bilbao was an advisor to Mexico City’s Ministry of Development and Housing.
Alongside practising as an architect, Bilbao also holds a teaching position at Yale University School of Architecture.
Schwarzkopf is the general manager of Uribe Schwarzkopf, a Quito-based development firm working with Bilbao and Zapata, as well as international architects such as Jean Nouvel, BIG and Moshe Safdie.
The family-run company, which has developed over 200 buildings in Quito over the course of fifty years, aims to use design as a catalyst for positive change.
Zapata is an award-winning Latin American architect and principal of the New York-based firm Carlos Zapata Studio.
The studio’s work ranges from master planning and architectural design, to interiors and furniture design.
Projects have included professional sports arenas to airport concourses to commercial high rises to private homes.
He also recently completed a 24-storey glass residential building in Quito that appears to be split in two. The project was a collaboration between Zapata and Uribe Schwarzkopf.
The full programme for the Dezeen x Miami Design Talks collaboration can be found here.
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