It's the greatest honor. Burkinabé Diébédo Francis Kéré received the 2022 Pritzker Prize on March 15, 2022, the highest distinction in the world of architecture that has already awarded renowned architects such as Oscar Niemeyer or Jean Nouvel. This is the first time that an African has received this award funded by the Hyatt Foundation. Kéré, 57 years old, born in Burkina Faso but based in Berlin (Germany), became known for his ecological architecture: the organizers of the award thus highlight his “intelligent use of local materials to adapt and respond to the natural climate”.
Although he went to Germany to study at the Technical University of Berlin, he found an architect anchored in his home continent. Many of his buildings were created only in Africa, namely in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Kenya and Mozambique. Despite his success and commissions, he continues to be an architect who “works in marginalized countries, where constraints and difficulties are numerous and where architecture and infrastructure are absent. […], highlights the Pritzker Prize press release. He has developed contemporary educational institutions, healthcare facilities, professional housing, civic buildings and public spaces, often in countries where resources are fragile and brotherhood is vital. »
Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury and comfort
The organizers were especially sensitive to this artist's creations because he “emancipates and transforms communities through architecture”. Your art is revealed In his desire to link ecological issues and access to comfort, even for the poorest. “Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury and everyone deserves comfort”, says Diébédo Francis Kéré. Just because you're rich doesn't mean you have to waste materials. Just because we are poor doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to create quality.” young Africa gives an overview of his most notable creations:
Gando Primary School, Burkina Faso, 2001
Gando Primary School in Burkina (burkina)© KERE ARCHITECTURE © KERE ARCHITECTURE
Gando is a village where Kéré grew up. This is also where he will create his first project. And not just any school: a primary school. He was still a student at the Technical University of Berlin when he embarked on this somewhat crazy adventure. He manages to raise the necessary funds to create “his” school, which will aim to provide a little comfort to the students, that is, a bearable temperature in a village where there is no electricity or running water. To do this, it uses local and therefore cheap materials (such as earth, transformed into bricks), and requires the construction of a double high metal roof, which allows air circulation to cool the roof, as well as large awnings that protect from the rain. or sun.
He invites residents to join his teams and participate in the construction
To carry out this project, he invites residents to join his teams and participate in the construction of the school. The objective is for them to take ownership of the place and acquire skills that can be reused later. All these great principles will be the source of your diverse future creations. As for the school, it was such a success that it won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004 and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2009. In 2003, Kéré also had to work on an extension to the camp to accommodate an additional 120 students. .
Mali National Park, 2010
Mali National Park © KERE ARCHITECTURE
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mali's independence, Kéré created a set of buildings for the Bamako National Park: the park's entrance pavilion, but also a sports center and a restaurant located on a rock formation and overlooking a spectacular panorama of the park and lake.
Each of these structures was built with local stone “to strengthen the local cultural heritage and at the same time reduce construction costs”, explains Kéré. Once again in the work of the Burkinabe architect, the creations take into account the climate issues of the locations. Therefore, I purchased considerable stone walls to balance the interior climate of the rooms as much as possible. Additionally, he wanted overhanging roofs to provide as many shaded areas as possible for visitors and facilitate natural ventilation. Buildings are designed to rely only on these passive cooling systems, without the need for air conditioning.
Léo health center, Burkina Faso, 2014
Health center in Léo, Burkina © KERE ARCHITECTURE
This construction is typical of Diébédo Kéré's architecture because it has a great impact on the local community: an establishment in health, built in the center of Burkina Faso. He also designed another in Laongo. There are surgical shelters, maternity wards and accommodation for nursing staff. This clinic provides care and healthcare to a local population of over 50,000 people who were previously largely deprived of it.
Numerous overhanging roofs and a rainwater collection system
The walls of the clinic are made of compact earth bricks and double-thick concrete blocks to maintain as much coolness as possible. There are also numerous overhanging roofs, providing the shade that is so precious in these scorching temperatures and a rainwater collection system to protect the surrounding plantations, in a region where it only rains three months a year.
Serpentine Pavilion, United Kingdom, 2017
Serpentine Pavilion, London © KERE ARCHITECTURE
The Serpentine Gallery pavilion in London is a temporary building built every year since 2000. The Serpentine committee invites a renowned architect that has never been built in England to design a summer pavilion. The world's greatest architects have shown their genius, including many Pritzker Prize winners: Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel, Oscar Niemeyer... It is, therefore, a great honor for Diébédo Francis Kéré to be invited to design his ornaments in 2017. He chose a refined structure reminiscent of the mango trees of the Sahel.
Lions Start-up Campus, Kenya, 2021
Home of Lions Campus in Kenya © KERE ARCHITECTURE
Inspired by termite mounds, Startup Lions Campus is an establishment dedicated to information and communication technologies. It offers high-level courses to 200 young entrepreneurs and, therefore, the opportunity to prosper without having to emigrate to the West.
It cost the Mama Sarah Foundation, named after Barack Obama's grandmother, US$ 12 million.
Situated on the shores of Lake Turkana in the Great Rift Valley, the project celebrates the unique morphology and natural beauty of the site. It is built on two levels that follow the natural contours of the hill. The thick walls are made of clay. This ancient technique helps maintain a cool indoor climate in regions of Africa where temperatures regularly exceed 37°C. This campus cost 12 million dollars (11.3 million euros) to the Mama Sarah Foundation, named after the grandmother of former US President Barack Obama.
National Assemblies of Burkina and Benin
Model of the National Assembly of Porto-Novo © KERE ARCHITECTURE
This is Kéré's flagship project: the future Parliament of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso. He envisioned a pyramidal (and semi-transparent) structure on top of which citizens could sit. The project, magnificent on paper, has been on hold for several years. "It's sad. I don't know if it will ever be done. […] There were terrorist attacks, and all this spiral politics linked to terrorism, and I understand that there are other priorities today besides the construction of a National Assembly… confident in World the day after the Pritzker Prize was announced. The good thing is that it generated another National Assembly project, in Benin, in Porto Novo. And it's under construction ! »
