Diébédo Francis Kéré Awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize
March 20, 2022 5:54 PM Subscribe
This year's Pritzker Prize winner is Diébédo Francis Kéré. The Burkino Faso-born Kéré is the first African and the first Black architect to be awarded the Pritzker Prize which has been awarded annually since 1979 and is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Architecture.
Here's a round up of 10 of his projects.
"We also use 1:1 models to communicate on site—they feel more real. I find that drawings have their limitations—they are still fiction. If ideas on paper were the basis of making a better world, Africa, with all the supposedly visionary plans that people have developed for it, would be the most developed place on earth. We have to find other tools. "
"I was lucky to grow in a community where the survival of the entire community depend on the support of each member. And then, as you can imagine, when I was a kid, I had to leave the village and to go abroad to have education. I had the dream to create a school and for the kids in the village, which will enable them to stay by their community, by their friends, their families, brothers and sister, and be able to attend education."
Here's a round up of 10 of his projects.
"We also use 1:1 models to communicate on site—they feel more real. I find that drawings have their limitations—they are still fiction. If ideas on paper were the basis of making a better world, Africa, with all the supposedly visionary plans that people have developed for it, would be the most developed place on earth. We have to find other tools. "
"I was lucky to grow in a community where the survival of the entire community depend on the support of each member. And then, as you can imagine, when I was a kid, I had to leave the village and to go abroad to have education. I had the dream to create a school and for the kids in the village, which will enable them to stay by their community, by their friends, their families, brothers and sister, and be able to attend education."
"You know, Africa is winning." I loved that sentence and want it to be true.
posted by Slothrup at 6:29 PM on March 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Slothrup at 6:29 PM on March 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
His works are elegant, airy, and perfect, each is a gem.
posted by Oyéah at 7:41 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 7:41 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Oh I love the Xylem pavilion so much! My friend’s parents live in Montana and I keep getting invited to do a visit to them + Yellowstone jaunt but I keep not doing it. That pavilion is an easy day trip from their place, evidently. I have been compelled, Montana here I come I guess.
posted by Mizu at 8:49 PM on March 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 8:49 PM on March 20, 2022 [2 favorites]
Can we add the tags Africa and Burkina Faso, in addition to the architect's name, please, to this contribution?
posted by infini at 2:52 AM on March 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by infini at 2:52 AM on March 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
His works are so beautiful. And I'm glad the Pritzker site is choosing to highlight his schools instead of buildings for the rich.
posted by goatdog at 7:25 AM on March 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by goatdog at 7:25 AM on March 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tags added infini, thanks! I thought I had tagged Kéré, but obviously I had not.
posted by the primroses were over at 7:40 AM on March 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by the primroses were over at 7:40 AM on March 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
ACH! I read about the Gando primary school a while back, and thought it was a beautiful structure - excited to delve into these other projects, too.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:35 PM on March 21, 2022
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:35 PM on March 21, 2022
This is cool. I wouldn’t have known about this except for this post, so thank you.
posted by fruitslinger at 3:50 PM on March 21, 2022
posted by fruitslinger at 3:50 PM on March 21, 2022
I clicked through to the article but I still don’t understand what he means by using 1:1 models on site. Can someone explain how that works?
posted by Ian A.T. at 10:59 PM on March 21, 2022
posted by Ian A.T. at 10:59 PM on March 21, 2022
This YouTube video is of a talk Kéré gave to the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and that link is queued up to the section where he talks about using very simple drawings and often full size models to convey his ideas and gain the trust/buy in of communities that don't have the literacy level to follow formal architectural plans.
Similarly, in this ArchDaily article of 15 things to know about Kére the sixth item in the list talks about how he has demonstrated the durability of the clay he uses in many of his projects by leaving a brick in a bucket of water for 5 days and then showing how it remains solid.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:11 PM on March 23, 2022
Similarly, in this ArchDaily article of 15 things to know about Kére the sixth item in the list talks about how he has demonstrated the durability of the clay he uses in many of his projects by leaving a brick in a bucket of water for 5 days and then showing how it remains solid.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:11 PM on March 23, 2022
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I forgot to include the link to his website in the post itself though: Kéré Architecture.
posted by the primroses were over at 6:00 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]