Diébédo Francis Kéré hails from the West African town of Gando in Burkina Faso. He was the first son of the head of his village and was the only child allowed to attend school, according to his biography. He was awarded a scholarship to apprentice in Germany and attended the Technische Universität in Berlin, where he earned his diploma in architecture and engineering.
This video is an interview with Kéré promoting the exhibition Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined (Jan. 25 — April 6, 2014) at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. In the film (directed by Candida Richardson), Kéré talks about how the architecture of his village influenced his own firm. He discusses how architecture in Gando is a communal experience, one in which he has to adapt his European-training to accommodate. The video also takes a tour of a small brick-and-clay school he designed which uses an open roof to aid in ventilation.
The following videos go a little deeper into that project. They discuss the architect’s work with the villagers to adopt the earth-brick building using different construction techniques.
And, finally, we have a lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design about Kéré’s theory of architecture and how it contributes to community.
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Above image: Diébédo Francis Kéré from the video.
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