Diébédo Francis Kéré Projects: 5 of the Architect's Designs

Diébédo Francis Kéré is a Burkinabé architect, professor, and sustainable development advocate. He often uses local materials, drawing on inspiration from the natural landscape itself to craft his buildings.

You can see Kéré’s work in his native West Africa, in Europe (his longtime home), as well as throughout the United States and the rest of the world. For instance, in 2010, the government of Mali tapped him to adorn the landscape of their national park with special structures; and in 2019, the Coachella Music Festival commissioned him to build the exhibition Sarbalé ke.

Kéré received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2022—the first year an African architect took home the award. He also received the Prince Claus Laureate Award in 2017 and the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture in 2021.

The son of a village chief, Kéré was the first child in Gando, Burkina Faso, to attend a primary school. To do so, he had to travel from his home village to a nearby urban center.

He eventually relocated to Germany, where he studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin. He graduated in 2004 and went on to form his own architectural practice, Kéré Architecture. He has taught architecture at the Technical University of Munich, the Bauhaus University in Weimar, and the Yale School of Architecture.

You can find architect Diébédo Francis Kéré’s work all over the world. Here are some prominent examples:

1. 1. The Benin National Assembly: Built in the Beninese capital of Porto-Novo, Kéré designed this structure to look similar to the palaver trees prevalent throughout the country. Its sweeping arches and large overhanging roof house the country’s parliament.
2. 2. The Gando Primary School: Kéré’s first building had some sentimental value. In 2004, he returned to his native village of Gando and built a primary school so children could learn without having to leave their village like he did. To construct the school, he also started the Kéré Foundation to help raise funds. For his accomplishments, he won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
3. 3. The Gando Secondary School: Kéré returned to Gando to construct another school building in 2011. This time, he made prominent use of eucalyptus wood, due to the prevalence of the trees in the region. Kéré’s other nearby Burkinabé projects include the Lycée Schorge Secondary School in Koudougou, the Opera Village in Laongo, and the Léo Surgical Clinic and Health Center.
4. 4. The Serpentine Pavilion: Since 2000, the Serpentine Galleries in London have commissioned an architect to build a specific pavilion for exhibition each summer. In 2017, Kéré designed for the occasion a circular structure with an overhanging roof similar to that of many of his other structures.
5. 5. The Xylem Pavilion: The Tippet Rise Art Center had Kéré design their Xylem Pavilion in 2019. Its multiple trunks of wood and the roof reminiscent of a mandala make the structure look like a mystical tree or gathering place in the otherwise natural surroundings of the nearby Montana landscape.

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