1/5/2021 Diébédo Francis Kéré describes village school that launched his career

Francis Kéré interview: The architect's hometown sch…

sch…

Diébédo Francis Kéré says school that launched his career is "not a traditional
African building"

India Block | 17 October 2017

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In this exclusive movie produced by Dezeen, Serpentine Pavilion architect Diébédo Francis
Kéré reveals how building a school for his home village in Burkina Faso was the starting point for his
career.
Kéré was born in a village named Gando, a village on the east side of the African country.
While studying to become an architect in Germany, back in 2001, he embarked on a building project for
the place where he grew up.
"In my culture everyone has to put his path to push the community forward, so I started to build a
school," he explains in the film.

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1/5/2021 Diébédo Francis Kéré describes village school that launched his career

Kéré was the first son of the head of the village, who allowed him to attend school as a child – although
this was very rare. By building Gando Primary School, Kéré made it possible for any child in the village
to receive an education.
It was his first ever architecture project, and set a precedent for a style of architecture that combines
traditional building techniques with modern engineering methods.
"I did a modern building that is not westernised, and not a traditional African building," he explains.
He says his aim was "to create a building that responded the best to the need of the climate and the
need of the people, using the most available material".

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Kéré spoke to Dezeen following of the launch of his Serpentine Pavilion in London – an oval-shaped
structure with a slatted timber roof, designed to represent the tree that was a meeting place for Gando
residents.
While that building is primarily formed of wood, Gando Primary School is largely built from clay, as
this material is cheap and readily available in Burkina Faso.
Kéré experimented with a clay and cement hybrid that was durable enough to withstand the high
temperatures of the semi-arid environment.
"We tried to improve the quality of clay, adding some cement to make it attractive, to make it
innovative," he says.

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1/5/2021 Diébédo Francis Kéré describes village school that launched his career

Burkina Faso sees heavy rainfall during the wet season, so traditionally buildings in feature corrugated
tin roofs that overhang to keep the water out. However, in the dry season, the metal makes the
interiors intolerably hot.
By using clay bricks, Kéré was able to avoid this, to keep the inside of the school cool. A ceiling of
perforated bricks helps naturally ventilate the building, while the suspended roof directs the rain away.
"[We created] a well ventilated structure, which is working without any artificial or mechanic climate
control," he says.

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1/5/2021 Diébédo Francis Kéré describes village school that launched his career

Having drawn up the plans, Kéré worked closely with the villagers to help with the construction. He
also set up the Kéré Foundation to help fund construction.
"In the village no one could build. What I had to do was train the people to be part of the building
process," the architect explains.
"Building with the labour of the community, I could do something big with less financial means, which
is important for a project such as this."

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1/5/2021 Diébédo Francis Kéré describes village school that launched his career

The use of locally sourced materials and simple technologies helped to keep the costs down. As a
result, Kéré has since developed on a number of extensions to the school, allowing it to increase its
capacity.
"It was a big success," says Kéré. "We built a school in this time for 200 kids. But soon after, more kids
wanted to attend education so we had to build an extension, and we also had to build housing for the
teachers."
As the project grew, so to did Kéré's burgeoning reputation.
"One thing makes another thing happen, so we started to build a lot in the village. Then, people started
to discover my work. People started to ask me to do the same for them," he adds.

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1/5/2021 Diébédo Francis Kéré describes village school that launched his career

In 2004, the primary school was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture – an award that
recognises architecture with a social responsibility.
Kéré went on to found his Berlin-based firm Kéré Architecture, which takes on projects across Africa
and Europe, ranging from a Camper retail space at the Vitra Campus to Burkina Faso's new National
Assembly building.
"Today in 2017, 16 years after building the first school, I have a team of maybe 200 to 300 builders,
welders, carpenters, bricklayers, a lot of people working on different sites in Burkina Faso," he says.
"This is incredible."
Photography by Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk .
Read more: Africa Interviews Education Schools Videos by Dezeen Architecture videos
Diébédo Francis Kéré Burkina Faso

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preis-leistung • 3 years ago • edited

Kéré's work for Volksbühne Berlin caused quite some criticism and disbelief in the city. Plan was a
movable 1000 seat podium for performances at former Tempelhof airport. Despite a budget of
300,000 euros, the result was a stationary podium made of scaffolding and chipboard with only
400 seats.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

spadestick • 3 years ago

Excellent early work.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

thepixinator • 3 years ago • edited

Gorgeous! I really admire building techniques that eliminate the need for mechanical climate
control.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

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