Francis Kéré, winner of the 2022 Pritzker Prize, the highest architecture award, communicates energy, optimism and kindness when he talks about himself and his past. The jury’s motivations offer a first indication of his path: “Born in Burkina Faso to parents who insisted that their son be educated, Francis Kéré went on to the study of architecture in Berlin. Over and over, he has, in a sense returned to his roots. He has drawn from his European architectural training and work, combining them with the traditions, needs and customs of his country. He was determined to bring resources in education from one of the leading Technical Universities in the world back to his native land and to have those resources elevate the indigenous know-how, culture and society of his region”.
During a meeting in Milan, Francis Kéré gave his direct account of his early years; feeling his determination, strength and faith is thrilling, it offers hope. “My approach to architecture comes from a sincere need. I grew up in a village in Burkina Faso where there was no school, and my father wanted me to learn to read and write. The closest school was twenty kilometres from home, and at that time only two people in the village owned a bicycle, everyone else travelled by donkey. So I had to leave my family when I was very young to move to another village where I could have an education; I remember the classrooms were so hot, with no light, uncomfortable desks and benches with nails sticking out. So naturally I thought that if I could, one day I would build better schools. It was merely a child’s desire. Then I began a traineeship with a carpenter near the school, and I learned to make desks, and I think that these were the things that made me an architect today. I just wanted to make things better, change the situation. I didn’t want to complain, I wanted to act, go looking for opportunities. I began with a small carpenter’s shop, and today I am an architect.”
Francis Kéré’s first project when he was still an architecture student in Berlin was precisely the primary school in Gando, in Burkina Faso, the construction of which began in October 2000 and ended just eight months later, applying construction techniques that became well-known across the country and the value of which was underlined when he won the Aga Khan Prize for Architecture in 2004. This project was followed by an extension, the construction of teachers’ accommodation, and then the secondary school in Dano, leading to a succession of larger interventions of different types. Just one example, developed recently and that will be inaugurated in the autumn of 2025: the Unesco Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects. This virtual museum will initially display around 600 works, selected from among those lost or stolen, addressing over 150 countries with a view to “strengthening cultural policies” through the fight against unlawful trafficking in cultural assets from all over the world. The global presentation of the project will take place in Barcelona, at the Mondiacult conference planned from 29 September to 1 October 2025.
But let’s take a step back, as we have to contextualise Kéré’s life path in order to understand the value of the relationship and exchange between different cultures and realities. This is how he describes the early days in Berlin: “You might think I have had an easy life. Yes, I came to Germany, and won a scholarship. Actually, when I arrived in Germany, I thought I was in heaven: I realised that I had access to education, and for me this was exactly what heaven meant. At the time I wanted to become a builder, but they told me that I had to study to do that, because I didn’t have a high school diploma. So I had to sign up to evening classes for adults, with mandatory attendance every day from 6 to 11 pm. I got my diploma in five years, and then I began to study the subjects I was most interested in. After just two years I realised that I had learned so much that nobody else in my village knew: I could draw, I knew a bit about engineering, I could design buildings… I wanted to get to work! And so I did my first job when I was still a student: in 2000 we began to build the school.”
Since 2000 there have been many achievements, prizes awarded, prestigious appointments – from the Benin National Assembly to the Thomas Sankara Mausoleum, invitations to international events to talk about his experience and life, always on the go from one place to another: “The more I live in the West and work in Africa, moving between the two continents, the more I feel we are quite similar “neighbours”. In Burkina Faso I see scarcity, but we have a very strong, supportive community and an excellent sense of community. When I look at my life in Europe, I think that everything is possible: in the past I wanted to connect these two worlds, and today it has become my job,” Francis Kéré concludes.
