9/12/2017 DibedoFrancisKrAwardedPrinceClausLaureateAwardfor2017|ArchDaily

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Dibedo Francis Kr Awarded Prince Claus Laureate Award for 2017

06:00 - 11 September, 2017 | by Tessa Forde

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Architect Dibedo Francis Krwas named Prince Claus Laureate for 2017, highlighting the cultural value and importance of beautiful,
sustainable and empowering architecture.

Kr received the award for his design and construction of buildings of great beauty that meet peoples needs; for honoring peoples pride in
their cultural traditions and techniques, for inventively combining relevant factors from two dierent knowledge systems to achieve practical
solutions of global relevance and creating an exchange of ideas between Africa and Europe; and for his ethical commitment to creating
inspiring architecture that improves living conditions and uplis communities...

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Established in 1996, The Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development perceives culture as a basic need and seeks to support the
endeavors of individuals and organizations in areas that do not have free access to cultural expression. The annual awards recognize
outstanding achievement in these areas with a particular focus on people and groups operating in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
Caribbean. High quality, notable contributions to local and wider cultural contexts and clear social impact play a critical role in the decision
making of the committee. Jurors from a variety of cultural disciplines including music, visual art, curation, film, architecture and urban
planning narrowed down a list of more than 140 nominees to seven Laureates, including two Principal Laureates.

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For the judging committee, Krs work spoke to the architecture professions potential to be generous and his career has been one of great
generosity. As the first child to attend school from his childhood village of Gando in Burkina Faso, Kr went on to study carpentry in Germany
and then attended Berlins Technische Universitt to study Architecture and Engineering. While studying, he established a charity called Bricks
for Gando and in 2000 used the funds to return to Burkina Faso to build Gando Primary School with locals from the village using local materials
and with a focus on regeneration. Since, he has completed a number of projects in Gando as well as Sudan, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique and
Europe. His commitment to community involvement, including consultation, mentorship and training, generates a sense of ownership
amongst its members and develops a system of cultural exchange. It is a true process of teaching and learning, operating in both directions.

In 2017 Kr was selected to design the Serpentine Pavilion, which sits in Hyde Park gently, its blue patchwork skin wrapping around like a
cloak, and the great, light bowl of the roof floating above it to keep the sun out. There are clear nods to the relationship of building to climate,
perhaps less crucial in London than in Gando but just as pertinent. It is a project about gathering and shelter, heat and rain, with water
collection as a waterfall feature in the center of it all, and its subtle translucency allowing it to breathe.

Generated with similar principles Kr has also been developing a scheme for a new Parliament building in post-revolution Ouagadougou. A
large tree becomes the symbolic and literal gathering point for public and political discussion while a walkable faade encases it from above.
Seeming to do what so many government buildings fail to do, Kr is facilitating democracy by way of public amenity. Again, it comes back to a
sense of ownership and empowerment of locals, which is at the root of his practice.

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Kr has found a way to produce architecture that is for the people, of the people and by the people, an achievement that makes him wholly
deserving of the Prince Claus Laureateship.

News via:Prince Claus Fund

ARCHDAILY AD EDITORIAL TEAM

Dibdo Francis Kr's Serpentine Pavilion Photographed by

Laurian Ghinitoiu
Following the opening of the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion, designed this year by Dibdo Francis Kr (
Kr Architecture), photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has turned his lens to London. Designed to mimic
a tree, or a canopy of trees, the wooden structure has been designed to fuse cultural references from
Kr's home town of Gando in Burkino Faso with more "experimental" construction techniques.
Read the article on archdaily.com >

ARCHDAILY AD EDITORIAL TEAM

Francis Kr to Design 2017 Serpentine Pavilion

The Serpentine Galleries have announced that the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion will be designed by
Dibdo Francis Kr ( Kr Architecture), an African architect based between Berlin, Germany, and
his home town of Gando in Burkino Faso.
Read the article on archdaily.com >

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ARCHDAILY KARISSA ROSENFIELD

Dibdo Francis Kr: "Architecture is About People"

On the Louisiana Channel's latest installment, Burkinab architect Dibdo Francis Kr discusses his
"Canopy" installation, currently on view at the Louisiana Museum in Denmark, and shares thoughts
on the impact of architecture. Designed with a sense of freedom that encourages users to interact
with the installation as they wish, Kere's Canopy serves as a exible gathering space within the
museum that is reminiscent of " AFRICA."
Read the article on archdaily.com >

Primary School in Gando. Image Erik... The Serpentine Pavilion. Image Lauri... Primary School in Gando. Image Sim... Tim Tiebout. Image Courtesy of PMA Courtesy of Kr Architecture

Extension to the Primary School in Gan... Library Extension at The Primary Scho... Ouagadougou Parliament Scheme. Ima... Ouagadougou Parliament Scheme. Ima...

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News Architecture News Burkina Faso Kr Architecture News Prince Claus Fund Dibdo Francis Kr Architecture News

Cite: Tessa Forde. "Dibedo Francis Kr Awarded Prince Claus Laureate Award for 2017" 11 Sep 2017. ArchDaily. Accessed 12 Sep 2017.
<http://www.archdaily.com/879317/diebedo-francis-kere-awarded-prince-claus-laureate-award-for-2017/>

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