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.
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.
Read more on Dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/?p=1140933
WATCH NEXT: New Burkina Faso parliament building “responds to needs of the people” says Diébédo Francis Kéré – https://youtu.be/Rws9rTaIG90
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