diébédo francis kéré receives the 2022 pritzker architecture prize.
above> startup lions campus, photo courtesy of francis kéré
diébédo francis kéré, architect, educator and social activist, has been selected as the 2022 laureate of the pritzker architecture prize, announced tom pritzker, chairman of the hyatt foundation, which sponsors the award that is regarded internationally as architecture’s highest honor.
“i am hoping to change the paradigm, push people to dream and undergo risk. it is not because you are rich that you should waste material. it is not because you are poor that you should not try to create quality,” says kéré. “everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury, and everyone deserves comfort. we are interlinked and concerns in climate, democracy and scarcity are concerns for us all.”
francis kéré (b. diébédo francis kéré, 1965) was born in burkina faso – one of the world’s least educated and most impoverished nations, a land void of clean drinking water, electricity and infrastructure, let alone architecture.
“i grew up in a community where there was no kindergarten, but where community was your family. everyone took care of you and the entire village was your playground. my days were filled with securing food and water, but also simply being together, talking together, building houses together. 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.”
diébédo francis kéré, photo courtesy of lars borges
xylem, photo courtesy of iwan baan
xylem, photo courtesy of iwan baan
xylem, photo courtesy of iwan baan
gando primary school, photo courtesy of erik-jan owerkerk
the success of gando primary school awarded him the aga khan award for architecture in 2004, and was the catalyst for establishing his practice, kéré architecture, in berlin, germany in 2005. the realization of additional primary, secondary, postsecondary and medical facilities soon followed throughout burkina faso, kenya, mozambique and uganda. kéré’s built works in africa have yielded exponential results, not only by providing academic education for children and medical treatment for the unwell, but by instilling occupational opportunities and abiding vocational skills for adults, therefore serving and stabilizing the future of entire communities.
serpentine pavilion, photo courtesy of iwan baan
sarbalé ke, photo courtesy of iwan baan
sarbalé ke, photo courtesy of iwan baan
opera village, photo courtesy of francis kéré
national park of mali, photo courtesy of francis kéré
lycée schorge secondary school, photo courtesy of iwan baan
burkina faso national assembly, rendering courtesy of kéré architecture
burkina faso national assembly, rendering courtesy of kéré architecture
benin national assembly, rendering courtesy of kéré architecture
his work has expanded beyond school buildings in african countries to include temporary and permanent structures in denmark, germany, italy, switzerland, the united kingdom, and the united states. two historic parliament buildings, the national assembly of burkina faso (ouagadougou, burkina faso) and benin national assembly (porto-novo, republic of benin), have been commissioned, with the latter currently under construction.
additional awards include the cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine’s global award for sustainable architecture (2009), bsi swiss architectural award (2010); the global holcim awards gold (2012, zurich, switzerland), schelling architecture award (2014); arnold w brunner memorial prize in architecture from the american academy of arts & letters (2017); and the thomas jefferson foundation medal in architecture (2021).
the architect has been a visiting professor at the harvard university graduate school of design (massachusetts, united states), yale school of architecture (connecticut, united states), and holds the inaugural chair of architectural design and participation professorship at the technische universität münchen (munich, germany) since 2017. he is an honorary fellow of royal architectural institute of canada (2018) and the american institute of architects (2012) and a chartered member of the royal institute of british architects (2009).
kéré is a dual citizen of burkina faso and germany and spends his time professionally and personally equally in both countries.
[ purpose ]
to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.
the international prize, which is awarded each year to a living architect/s for significant achievement, was established by the pritzker family of chicago through their hyatt foundation in 1979. it is granted annually and is often referred to as “architecture’s nobel” and “the profession’s highest honor.”
the award consists of $100,000 (us) and a bronze medallion. the award is conferred on the laureate/s at a ceremony held at an architecturally significant site throughout the world.