Hasta La Ideas

Diébédo Francis Kéré, founder of the Berlin-based practice Kéré Architecture, has become the first Black individual to win the field’s highest honor, the Pritzker Prize. Hailing from the remote village of Gando in Burkina Faso, Kéré won a scholarship to study woodwork in Germany before transitioning to architecture at the Technical University of Berlin. His career began upon his return to Burkina Faso, when he built a mud-brick primary school for his community. Kéré continued to construct schools, universities, libraries, medical facilities, parks and more throughout Africa, often employing local individuals and transforming limited resources. His most notable projects range from the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion to the Xylem Pavilion at Montana’s Tippet Rise Art Center and the Lycée Schorge Secondary School in Burkina Faso. Many of his most ambitious projects are in development and eagerly anticipated by architecture enthusiasts. Read more about Kéré’s astonishing contributions to the craft at The Guardian.

Image courtesy of Diébédo Francis Kéré