Francis Kéré

Francis Kéré put his native Gando, Burkina Faso on the map in 2004 by winning Aga Khan Award for Architecture for constructing the Gando primary school. It was his first building, and he has since earned international renown for developing construction strategies that combine traditional building techniques and materials with modern engineering methods. In 2017 Kéré designed the Serpentine Pavilion in Kensington Gardens in London (since relocated to a permanent home in Malaysia) — a project that realized his ideal of creating community while connecting people with .  Opening this summer at the Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, Kéré’s newest pavilion, is being built in parallel with a school in Gando. The school is dedicated to Kéré’s father, which will be open to the children of the entire neighboring area in the African savannah.

Kéré Architecture

The twelve colorful towers created by the Berlin-based architect Francis Kéré reference the baobab trees that claim a remarkable and dominant presence in his native West African village of Gando, Burkina Faso. “In my culture, the baobab is the most important tree,” he says. “It’s giant, and it has multiple uses as food and medicine. It’s the place where you get together, celebrate, and discuss. It also attracts animals. It is spiritual. Naturally you will walk toward it.” The structures in Sarbalé ke, “the house of celebration” in Kéré’s native tongue, command the same power. Some soar higher than sixty feet tall and, with their joyful colors and deep shadows that provide valuable shaded spaces, exude the same welcoming appeal. The light is another important component. “In my culture where there is no light, no electricity, if we see a light we watch it for a while,” he says. “If it stays [illuminated] we walk toward it, and there will be a celebration.”