Kéré Architecture
Diébédo Francis Kéré was born April 10, 1965 in Gando, Burkina Faso. As the son of the village chief, he was the first child in his village to go to school because his father believed it was important for his first born to learn to read and write. At the time, no school existed in Gando so Francis went to live with his uncle in the city. After completing his education, he received a scholarship to have an apprenticeship in Germany. Once he completed his apprenticeship, he decided to study architecture at the Technical University of Berlin, which he then graduated in 2004.
Francis felt it was his duty as a son of Gando to help his family and community back home. Francis set up an association called Schulbausteine für Gando which means “Building Blocks of Gando”. This association, now called Kere Foundation, was set up to fund development of a primary school for his community. His idea was to combine the ideas he learned in Germany with traditions from his culture in Gando to create buildings that were unique and could show off the pride of Burkina Faso. His philosophy is a style called “Radically Simple”, Radical because they are designed to give humans a sense of responsibility and respect to the building and site and Simple because the buildings themselves are simple reflections of their environment and conditions.
Francis has accepted projects all over the world and has held professorships at some of the top design schools in the world.
Click here to visit the Kéré Architecture website for more information pertaining to their work.
Firm Timeline
Awards/Recognition
2004
Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the Gando Primary School.
2006
Chevalier de L’Ordre National Burkino Faso for the Gando Primary School Extension.
2007
Zumtobel Group Award for the Gando Primary School Extension.
2009
Premio Internazionale Architettura Sostenibile, Honorable Mention for the Gando Primary School Extension.
2009
Global Award for Sustainable Architecture for Gando Primary School, Gando Primary School Extension, and the Dano Secondary School.
2009
Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
2010
Gold Award, Red Crescent Museum Competition; Geneve Switzerland
2010
BSI Swiss Architecture Award for the Gando Primary School Extension, Gando Primary School Teacher Housing, and Dano Secondary School.
2011
DETAIL Prize 2011, Special award for Green Architecture; Germany
2011
Marcus Prize; Milwaukee, USA
2011
Gold, Regional Holcim Award for Africa and Middle East; Morocco for the Gando Secondary School.
2012
Honorary Fellow at the American Institute of Architects; Washington, D.C.
2012
Gold, Global Holcim Award.
2013
Green Planet Architects Award.
2013
1st Prize, Taylor Barracks Competition; Mannheim, Germany.
2014
1st Prize, Oxford Kaserne Competition; Münster, Germany.
2014
Schelling Architecture Foundation Architecture prize; Karlsruhe, Germany.
2015
1st Prize, Meroé Royal Baths Protective Shelter; Meroé, Sudan.
2015
Kenneth Hudson Award, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum; Geneva Switzerland.
2016
Euro Shop Retail Design Award, Camper Pop-Up Shop at Vitra Design Museum; Weil am Rhein, Germany.
2017
Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize for Architecture; New York, New York.
2017
Lafarge Holcim Award- Building Better Recognition for the Gando Secondary School.
2017
Prince Claus Award.
2022
Best Public Building: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022 (Startup Lions Campus)
2022
Monocle Design Award 2022 in the category of Best Educational Buildings (Startup Lions Campus)
Life
1965
Diébédo Francis Kéré was born, Gando, Burkina Faso.
1985
Kéré traveled to Berlin on a vocational carpentry scholarship.
1995
Kéré was awarded a scholarship to attend Technical University of Berlin.
2001
Kéré created Schulbausteine für Gando, the predecessor to the Kéré Foundation e.V.
2004
Kéré graduated from the Technische Universität Berlin (Berlin University of Technology) with a diploma in architecture.
2005
Founded his architectural practice, Kéré Architecture GmbH.
Teaching
2008
ETH Zurich
2010
the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio in Switzerland
2012
Rhode Island School of Design
2015
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2018
Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD)
Additional
2012
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum Permanent Exhibition
2014
Sensing Spaces Pavilion
2015
La Rambla Camper Store
2015
Chicago Architecture Biennial’s Place for Gathering
2015
Louisiana Canopy
2015
Camper Pop-up Store
2016
Courtyard Village
2016
Colorscape
2016
Schorge Chairs
2016
ZIBA Stool
2017
Chicago Tribune Tower
2017
Published the Radically Simple book.
2017
Betty Barclay Shop Concept
2017
Serpentine Pavilion
2018
Designed Bloomberg Philanthropies Award
2018
Francis Kéré: Of Clay and Community
2019
Racism. The Invention of Human Races
2019
Sarbalé Ke (the “House of Celebration”) for 2019 Coachella Music ans Arts Festival.
Select Projects
Select projects studied by students at the North Carolina State University School of Architecture.
