In its more than 40-year history, Burkino 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.
Tom Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation that sponsors the award, in a statement, said Kere, 56, was hailed for his “pioneering” designs that are “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants – in lands of extreme scarcity”.
Kere, a dual citizen of Burkina Faso and Germany is renowned for building schools, health facilities, housing, civic buildings and public spaces across Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Kenya, Mozambique, Togo and Sudan.
“He is equally architect and servant, improving upon the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the world that is at times forgotten,” said Pritzker.
Harping on the development in an interview with newsmen, an elated Kere said he was the “happiest man on this planet” to become the 51st recipient of the illustrious Pritzker Architecture prize since it was first awarded in 1979.
“I have a feeling of an overwhelming honour but also a sense of responsibility,” Kere said.
Speaking on his early days, he said “I grew up in a community where there was no kindergarten, but where community was your family”
“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”.
“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”.
Official reports have it that Kere won plaudits for his 2001 project for a primary school in Gando village, in Burkina Faso, where he was born.
Unlike traditional school buildings which used concrete, Kere’s innovative design combined local clay, fortified with cement to form bricks that helped retain cooler air inside.
A wide raised tin roof protects the building from rains while helping the air circulate, meaning natural ventilation without any need for air conditioning.
In its release, the Hyatt Foundation said Kere engaged the local community during the design and building phase, and the number of students at the school increased from 120 to 700.
The success of the project saw the creation of an extension, a library and teachers’ housing in later years.
The 2022 Jury in a Twitter statement said “Francis Kéré’s entire body of work shows us the power of materiality rooted in place. His buildings, for and with communities, are directly of those communities – in their making, their materials, their programs and their unique characters”.
It added that Kere “empowers and transforms communities through the process of architecture,” designing buildings “where resources are fragile and fellowship is vital”.
“Through his commitment to social justice and engagement, and intelligent use of local materials to connect and respond to the natural climate, he works in marginalised countries laden with constraints and adversity,” the organisers said.
Reacting to the development, Nebila Aristide Bazie, head of the Burkina Faso architects’ council, said the award “highlights the African architect and the people of Burkina Faso.”
It would be recalled that in 2017, Kere became the first African architect to design the Serpentine pavilion in London’s Hyde Park, a prestigious assignment given to a world-famous architect every year.
He was also one of the architects behind Geneva’s International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum and has held solo museum shows in Munich and Philadelphia.
“I am totally convinced that everyone deserves quality,” he said in his office, where he celebrated his award with his team.
“I’m always thinking how can I get the best for my clients, for those who can afford but also for those who cannot afford.”
An elated Kere added that “This is my way of doing things, of using my architecture to create structures to serve people, let’s say to serve humanity”.
