According to the data released by the World Bank, this country in the hinterland of Western Sahara is among the 25 poorest countries in the world.
He left his hometown to study in Berlin, Germany, and obtained an advanced degree in architecture from the Berlin University of Technology.
Their existence is not pretentious, but exudes a subtle influence.
Until the end of the 1980s, K é r é went to a further place to study – Berlin before the reunification of the two Germany.
Francis K é r é, an architect, was born in Burkina Faso in 1965, one of the least educated and poorest countries in the world.
Photographer: Ke ́ Re ́ Architecture: DalChodha, Ellie Stathaki02Gando Primary School 2001 The young people in the picture are not posing or having a street party, but conducting a clay arch structure stability test.
His graduation project is to design a primary school building for his hometown.
Their place is called Gando, a tribe in Burkina Faso.
The straw woven curtain on the window adopts the local traditional “mkeka” style, which can be adjusted according to the position of the sun, while the mosquito net can keep the air flowing while keeping various insects out.
Architect Di é b é do Francis K é r é won the Pritzker Architecture Award in 2022, which is the first time that this award was awarded to African architects.
There are classrooms, activity teaching areas, storage and technical facilities in the building.
At the end of each holiday, he would visit every house before leaving for school.
So K é r é returned to the tribe with the funds and drawings.
He was also the only child here who had the opportunity to receive primary education.
The building is inseparable from the land on which it is based, and is also closely related to the users who are in it.
K é r é has won wide praise for a series of campus projects built in his native Burkina Faso ten years ago, and his design will meet the needs of local communities according to the specific characteristics of different regions.
The whole campus is composed of five main buildings, with stones mined from local quarries as the main materials; The circular layout has enclosed a space in the center for students’ activities.
His latest project, Kenya ‘Lion’ Start up Park, is inspired by the local termite mound, and will integrate local and technical features.
By persuading students to save money on cigarettes and coffee consumption for a long time, we have raised 50000 dollars at the time of graduation.
The infrastructure here is backward, the health conditions are poor, and the education level of young people is extremely low.
This is also the embryonic form of the K é r é Foundation.
How to build the first school in the village? Who will cover it? For the African continent, it is the result of the collective participation of the whole village, young and old.
Among them, Gando Primary School was rated by the New York Times as one of the “25 most important buildings in the world after World War II”.
In the review speech of this Pritzker Architecture Award, it was written as follows: “What role does architecture play when resources are extremely scarce? In the process of overcoming many difficulties, what is the right way to practice architecture? Should we be willing to be conservative and bear the risk of yielding to the adverse environment? Or is moderate conservatism the only practical way to achieve results? Should we be ambitious to stimulate change? And will such ambition make architecture divorced from reality and become the product of wishful thinking ？ K é r é shows to the world with all his works that materials rooted in the local can create unlimited power.
K é r é is the son of Chief Gando.
The house K é r é wants to build most is the school building.
All labors involved in the construction are from the local area, and the building materials are also from the local area.
He is determined to bring “education”, the most precious resource, back to his hometown.
While studying for his degree at the Berlin University of Technology, he had already started to raise money for the construction of his hometown.
A variety of terraces with shade pergolas and wide steps provide a choice for outdoor teaching.
” 01SlakEducationCampus Kenya ‘Lion’ Start up Park2021 Kenya ‘Lion’ Start up Park and the local giant termite mound Francis K é r é designed this sustainable education park on the bank of Turkana Lake in Kenya.
Its design inspiration comes from the local common giant termite mound.
People can’t figure out why this first primary school building, which is expected by the whole village, was built with clay..
His works and the process behind them all proved the significance of architecture as education – to impart knowledge and skills through the implementation of the project, and always consider the local climate and economic conditions in the design process.
Therefore, the project also won the Best Public Building Award of Wallpaper * International Edition Design Award in 2022.
Benefiting from an international carpenter training program, he gradually moved to a professional architectural college and became a professional architect.
When he was young, he studied in other villages for a long time.
While matching the local historical culture and environmental texture, the project also skillfully injects sustainability and modernity.
Every woman took out a coin and gave it to him as educational support and good wishes.
With many educational building projects and sustainable social design ideas, he made the world know about African architecture.
The project also won the Best Public Building Award of Wallpaper * International Edition Design Award in 2022.
His architecture, built for the community, coexists with the community, and directly reflects all aspects of the community – from construction, materials, planning to community characteristics have been integrated into the architecture.
People in the village expect K é r é to bring the advanced western construction materials and technologies back to their hometown.
