During The World Around Summit 2023, Mexico City-based architect Tatiana Bilbao presented a brand-new education and research center for one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems in the world: the Sea of Cortes.

Bilbao and her studio were cognizant of the complex landscape asserted onto this project, which aims to symbiotically reconnect humans with the environment through its architecture. It is “conceived as a ruin (past or future) that was invaded by nature and has left behind a window into another world,” and is intended to mediate between the world that people currently see and comprehend, and an uncertain future they still need determine.

“We have built this building in 2023, and hopefully in 2289 we still exist to see if it has really been able to hold on to its purpose, or at least to see what the imprints on the walls reveal to us: of the time, of the planet, of the people that lived in 2023,” Bilbao said.