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Image source: Dezeen
Architect Diébédo Francis Kéré the Burkina Faso born architect who won the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Award, becoming the first African architect to win the prestigious award which is coined as the highest honor in architecture profession, has been named the 2023 architecture laureate for the Praemium Imperiale awards by the Japan Art Association according to Dezeen. Praemium Imperiale is an annual award that celebrates the inventiveness and spree of creativity across the fields of architecture, music, sculpture, painting and theatre or film.
Architect Kéré has led his own architectural firm, a practice in Berlin, Germany, known as Kéré Architecture to many exclusive achievements as well as some life touching CSR across Africa and beyond. This has earned him Pritzker award and many more recognitions in the global stage. In addition to his monumental importance and recognitions, he has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Praemium Imperiale architecture prize.
Architect Francis Kéré has written his valuable name on significant stones across Africa through exclusive projects that he has completed in the continent, this includes the one in the Republic of Benin, Togo, Kenya, Mozambique, Mali, Sudan and his home country Burkina Faso.
The Praemium Imperiale praised and celebrated him for his buildings that “utilize the skills and energies of the local community” and for “employing traditional building materials and connecting them with modern design.” This he has done “By combining local materials and skills with innovative design and smart engineering solutions, while maintaining a focus on working with local communities, the global renowned architect has transformed architecture not only in Burkina Faso but across the globe.” The Praemium Imperiale awards are presented annually by Japan’s imperial family. Each laureate receives 15 million Yen, which is equivalent to £90,000.
Architect Francis Kéré was born in 1965, and trained as a carpenter in Burkina Faso his home country before he got a scholarship for an apprenticeship in development aid from the Carl Duisberg Society and later studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany where he graduated in 2004. One of his earliest projects was Gando Primary School which he did in his home town in Burkina Faso. His portfolio focuses predominantly on social initiatives for marginalized communities, dominated by projects such as schools and community buildings. These include Lycée Schorge Secondary School and the Kamwokya Community Centre in Kampala the capital of Uganda.
Munirat M. | Buildace Magazine
