Inspirational Creators: Diébédo Francis Kéré, Architect

"A structure of grace, warmth and sophistication, in sympathy with the local climate and culture. The practical and the poetic are fused. [It] inspires pride and instills hope in its community, laying the foundations for the advancement of a people."

This tribute from the jury of the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture captures both the architectural and socially transformative beauty of a low cost village school, designed and built from local materials by a young architect from Burkina Faso. Diébédo Francis Kéré's story is inspiring. It tells of one man's creative ability, enabled through his education, fired by his sense of social responsibility, and shared to create new opportunities for the future of an entire community.

There was no local school when Mr. Kéré was growing up in Gando, a remote village of some 3,000 inhabitants in one of the world's poorest countries. The son of the village headman, he already had instilled in him a keen sense of responsibility when his family sent him away to school at the tender age of seven. He did not disappoint them. After winning a scholarship from the German government to study in Germany, he became the first inhabitant of Gando to earn a university degree.

School bricks for Gando

While still studying for his architecture degree at Berlin Technical University, Mr. Kéré learned that the flimsy school building which had been erected in Gando some years previously was on the point of collapse. Determined to share with his community the advantages that education had given him, Mr. Kéré launched the School Bricks for Gando project and set about raising the US$30,000 funding needed to build a school.

Construction began in 2000. Mr. Kéré's approach to the project brought together intelligent architectural design, local materials and the involvement of the whole community. "This was much more than just a building project," the soft-spoken young architect told WIPO Magazine. "It was a labour of love. It was based on shared discovery between myself and the villagers, on creating something in which the whole community could take pride." Mr. Kéré trained local men in the techniques of building with compressed earth blocks. Village children proudly insisted on carrying mud and stones to the site. Women produced traditional clay flour. "The laying of a stamped floor was an unforgettable experience," he...