The Pritzker Award, also known as the Nobel Prize of Architecture, has been won by an African architect for the first time. Diébédo Francis Kéré was selected as the winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2022 and was recognized for “empowering and transforming communities through the process of architecture.” What made his architecture so outstanding? Why don’t we listen to his story about contributing to the life of the community?
Kéré was born in Burkina Faso — one of the world’s least educated and most impoverished nations. This is a land lacking clean drinking water, electricity, and infrastructure, let alone architecture. The 7th poorest country in the world, Burkina Faso has a population that is more than 60 percent illiterate.
People in Burkina Faso
PRITZKER WINNER 2022
“I grew up in a community where there was no kindergarten, but where community was your family,” Kéré said. “Everyone took care of you, and the entire village was your playground. My days were filled with securing food and water, but also simply being together, talking together, building houses together. I remember the room where my grandmother would sit and tell stories with a little light, while we would gather closely to each other and her voice inside the room surrounded us, forming a safe place. This was my first sense of architecture.”
Overcrowded primary school classroom in Burkina Faso
Francis Kéré grew up with many challenges and few resources. When he was 7 years old, Kéré traveled nearly 40 kilometers to attend school because his village, Gando, did not have one of its own. He had to study in a classroom with poor lighting and ventilation that was often overheated and overcrowded with more than one hundred other kids. What’s worse, while the sunlight outside was almost blinding, inside the school it was always dark. Trapped in that extreme environment, Kéré swore to make schools better one day.
Gando, Burkina Faso
Thirteen years later, he moved to Germany on a carpentry scholarship. While studying architecture in Germany, he decided to use his knowledge to build a new school in his home village. Some said it would have been easy and enjoyable to stay in Berlin, where he had his training. However, he didn’t. Although he lived and studied far from his native homeland, Kéré’s thoughts always remained with his people.
As he said in one of his lectures, young Kéré — walking a long distance to attend school — returned home on holidays. At the end of every visit, he made the rounds to all the villagers to say goodbye. At each stop, the villagers gave him a penny — often their last penny — as a parting gift. The pennies were their way of contributing to the boy’s education, hoping that he might be successful and one day come back and help improve the quality of life in the community.
During his study abroad, he never forgot the contributions of the community which had supported him. Even after hearing the news about the award, he credited his success to his community in Gando. “Without their dedication, my project could not have been completed,” he said.
Without their dedication, my project could not have been completed.
Back in Burkina Faso, Kéré began construction on his first building, Gando Primary School. Kéré has said of his practice, “My work cannot be realized without community. In order to gain the trust of the community, you must understand local culture.”
Participation and cooperation of the villagers
Kéré’s approach to architecture places a strong emphasis on community involvement and collaboration. This shared cultural aspect comes from the culture of his community, where decisions are usually made in groups and community projects are common. For example, he planned to use traditional clay bricks, but his idea was not entirely welcomed. People were somewhat skeptical of his choice of material at first.
“There is still a feeling that everything that’s local is primitive,” he said. “Let’s say 90% of people in Burkina Faso use clay, but they see it as a poor person’s material.”
Some people were doubting that the structure would withstand the rainy season. To convince them, he explained that the local clay could be combined with “modern” concrete. Moreover, clay was locally abundant and had been used for centuries in the local area due to its temperature-regulating properties, so it could help to cool the institute's interior. Finally, the villagers put their faith in Kéré, and, in close collaboration with him, gave the architect the opportunity to build the village’s first school.
Making a floor using local clay
As soon as the school was completed, people started to realize that “we could do that!” People have a strong attachment — let’s say identification — with what “we” have built. Everyone feels proud to be part of the process. This is one of the strongest experiences to understand the common value. That is: “We made this.”
Students in Gando Primary School
Working to integrate local people into the process as much as possible, Kéré not only taught architectural knowledge and developed the vocational skills of local adults, but he also provided a good physical environment for children to learn. This has resulted in the student body increasing from 120 to 700 students.
The success of the Gando Primary School sparked interest in building additional educational facilities. There was, however, still a very fundamental problem. Burkina Faso is both extremely hot and too poor to pay for electrical air conditioning machines. Kéré needed an innovative solution to keep the school comfortable for the children. He eventually designed the school to breathe and ventilate itself.
Students in Gando Primary School
Gando Primary School
The key to his work was to increase the flow of air. He made a big, “main roof” that was mounted higher above the classroom structure. Below that, hanging ceilings, made of local eucalyptus wood, were placed in the middle to make ventilation openings.
“It’s just physics: the heavy, cooler air stays low, on the ground, while the hot air, which is lighter, escapes through the openings on the top. Sometimes I place horizontal windows along the walls to allow the heavy, fresh air to enter. There is not a big difference in temperature, but the flow of air gives you the feeling of refreshment.”
“The students are happy to see that the design is different from other schools,” said a biology and gardening teacher. “It inspires them to excel and make a difference.”
“You have to have a dream, start small, and believe.”
Kéré has demonstrated that the contribution of one architect can truly change a community in an extremely poor country, even one with such a high illiteracy rate.
“In my practice, the biggest challenge was how to explain the design and drawings to people who can neither read nor write. Thus, I gave young members of the community the opportunity to collaborate on the erection of the school and become trained in the construction process. These workers have used these new skills to build schools and housing in other communities, helped themselves stabilize economically, and at last dreamed of their futures. That’s why the school has to be the first building before the rest. As a true place for learning, it is the basis for the whole development of this small rural village in West Africa.”
Now, children in Burkina Faso go to school to learn. If they enjoy the experience, it could open new doors for the children’s futures. Maybe, like Kéré’s personal story has shown, this can change the history of the community.