Diébédo Francis Kéré: First African to win architecture’s ‘Nobel’
Burkina Faso-born architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, has become the first African to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. His highly esteemed work, including permanent and temporary structures, has been erected in his country of birth, but also across Africa, Europe and the US.
Kéré, 56, was elated to receive what is considered architecture’s most renowned award, telling the BBC he was “very happy, very proud. It was a huge surprise.”
But his decades-long journey to the top of his field was far from straightforward, with limited opportunities in his village.
“I grew up in a community where there was no kindergarten, but where community was your family,” he told the Pritzker Prize.
“I remember the room where my grandmother would sit and tell stories with a little light, while we would huddle close to each other and her voice inside the room enclosed us, summoning us to come closer and form a safe place. This was my first sense of architecture,” he continued.
At seven, Kéré found himself crammed into an extremely hot classroom with more than 100 other students.
As the first child in his community to have attended school, this experience of poor building facilities was his earliest inspiration to improve the educational lives of Burkina Faso’s children, using architecture.
Years later and after studies in Germany, the dream became a reality, with Kéré designing a primary school in his home village of Gando as his first building in 2001.
It was built with significant input from local people, who contributed to the workforce and resources, according to the prize’s website.
People inspiration
“Architecture is an instrument we can use to create better cities, to create space to inspire people, to create classrooms which inspire the best generation,” he told BBC Afrique.
The success of the primary school earned Kéré the Aga Khan Award in 2004, which is awarded every three years to identify building projects that address the needs of societies with a large Muslim population.
The renown of the Gando school later paved the way for him to design more educational establishments, like Lycée Schorge, also in Burkina Faso.
