Gabriela Carrillo is a co-founder of Colectivo C733, a group of architects committed to designing fast-track public projects across Mexico, from market halls and sports complexes, to cultural centers and educational facilities. In 2024, the collective received an Obel Award for completing 36 public projects in the span of 36 months, revitalizing a range of marginalized urban and rural areas through varied, precise interventions. 

At the site of the last remaining mangrove forest on the Bacalar Lagoon—home to the world’s largest freshwater bacterial reef—Colectivo C733 created a square pier that allows visitors to see close-up a rich community of microorganisms, some billions of years old. Developing an efficient structural system using local wood and mitigating pollution from the neighboring town through its landscape strategy, the collective sought to minimize the project’s environmental footprint while protecting a precious ecosystem under threat from urbanization.