Tatiana Bilbao Estudio (ed.)

Landscape of Faith

Architectural Interventions along the Mexican Pilgrimage Route

Landscape of Faith is a documentation of the way architecture can increase the identity of a pilgrimage route and add layers of meaning that reach far beyond the religious. The book presents sculptural and infrastructural interventions – in constant dialogue with the landscape –, which are spread along a pilgrimage route in central-western Mexico. It takes the reader on a journey along the route and lets them experience the act of devotion, faith and gratitude.

Every year close to three million people trek from Ameca to Talpa de Allende to visit the site where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared. La Ruta del Peregrino stretches a distance of 117 kilometers through the vast and imposing mountain range of Jalisco. In 2008 nine architectural studios were invited to improve the route’s infrastructure by creating areas for people to rest and reflect. Each introduced landmark sparks a dialogue about sustainability and austerity, landscape and architecture.

All photographs are by Iwan Baan. The book features an essay on pilgrimage and architecture by Daniel Saldaña Paris. With projects by Ai Weiwei (FAKE Design), Luis Aldrete Arquitectos, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Christ & Gantenbein, Dellekamp Arquitectos, Alejandro Aravena (Elemental), Godoylab, HHF Architects and Rozana Montiel (periférica).

Landscape of Faith is a documentation of the way architecture can increase the identity of a pilgrimage route and add layers of meaning that reach far beyond the religious. The book presents sculptural and infrastructural interventions – in constant dialogue with the landscape –, which are spread along a pilgrimage route in central-western Mexico. It takes the reader on a journey along the route and lets them experience the act of devotion, faith and gratitude.

Every year close to three million people trek from Ameca to Talpa de Allende to visit the site where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared. La Ruta del Peregrino stretches a distance of 117 kilometers through the vast and imposing mountain range of Jalisco. In 2008 nine architectural studios were invited to improve the route’s infrastructure by creating areas for people to rest and reflect. Each introduced landmark sparks a dialogue about sustainability and austerity, landscape and architecture.

All photographs are by Iwan Baan. The book features an essay on pilgrimage and architecture by Daniel Saldaña Paris. With projects by Ai Weiwei (FAKE Design), Luis Aldrete Arquitectos, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Christ & Gantenbein, Dellekamp Arquitectos, Alejandro Aravena (Elemental), Godoylab, HHF Architects and Rozana Montiel (periférica).

Edited by Tatiana Bilbao Estudio

With photographs by Iwan Baan

With contributions by Verónica Gerber Bicecci, Daniel Saldaña París

Design: Integral Lars Müller

16,5 × 24 cm, 6 ½ × 9 ½ in

320 pages, 202 illustrations

paperback

2018, 978-3-03778-499-0, English
Spanish
CHF 35.00

Tatiana Bilbao

Tatiana Bilbao is a leading voice in contemporary architecture. She founded Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO, a Mexico City based architecture studio, in 2004 with the aim of integrating social values, collaboration and sensitive design approaches to architectural work. Among the studio’s architectural projects are the Culiacán Botanical Garden, the Pilgrimage Route in Jalisco, an institutional building on the UDEM campus, a research center of the Sea of Cortez, and a social housing prototype displayed at the 2015 Chicago Biennial. 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. She was born and grew up in Mexico City.

Iwan Baan

Photo Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan (*1975 in Amsterdam) is an architecture and documentary photographer. He has worked for major architectural studios like SANAA, Rem Koolhaas/OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, Toyo Ito, and architects like Steven Holl and Zaha Hadid. His works are published regularly in architectural magazines and newspapers, among them Domus, a+u, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. In his photography, Baan focuses on the connection between architecture and the surrounding environment. Instead of isolating the built structure he embeds it in history and context.