'Architecture to me is caring', Francis Kéré at UIA World Congress of Architects 2023

“The human species is an integrated part of the life on our planet, not an exceptional creation by itself… If a kind of magic quickens the sinews of living things, then humans simply possess a share in the sacred cosmos… it is time we told ourselves a new story of revolutionary simplicity: if we matter, so does everything else.” – Melanie Challenger

At the now concluded UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 that took place from July 2 – 6, 2023, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Diébédo Francis Kéré, the Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate of 2022, presented an insightful keynote on ‘Rethinking Resources - How To Do More With Less.’ He was joined by Minik Rosing, Professor of Geology at the University of Copenhagen, in a panel moderated by Connie Hedegaard. Here, an underlying message was ascertained: moving towards a more ‘sustainable resource paradigm’ and healing the planet we inhabit in slow, but efficient and intentional actions, with architecture—a humbling yet proactive thought, one that uplifts and asserts, contrarian to the default systems that global architecture has capitulated to. As he mentioned in his keynote, Kéré believes in putting in ‘less’ to achieve ‘more,’ a profound and quixotic credence that manifests increasingly in his works such as the Gando Primary School complex, the Serpentine Pavilion 2017, the Lycée Schorge Secondary School, and the Benin National Assembly (yet to be completed).

The keynote inscribed the need for a collective tidal shift, 'from an exploitative to a restorative and circular design ideology,' deeming it fundamental towards changing architecture and the built environment to become more sustainable. “We look at strategies for a new resourcefulness in architecture and discuss how to bring the built environment back inside the planetary boundaries,” UIA’s press statement relays.

Shortly after the address, Amit Gupta, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, STIR and Samta Nadeem, Curatorial Director of STIR, sat down with the architect based in West Africa and Germany, launching into a perceptive discussion that visited themes of the power of co: community, collaboration, co-creation, and commitment to the environment, in tandem with the event’s overarching theme, 'Sustainable Futures – Leave No One Behind!' The insightful conversation touched upon Kéré’s sustainable design ideologies, his idea of who has been left behind in the name of development and building, and solutions that inform and align towards inclusivity across species and communities.

Activating local knowledge and resources, with diversity as a building language

A Burkina Faso native, Kéré took an unconventional route to architecture—as a child, he volunteered at a carpenter’s workshop near his native residence, tackling a simple want of crafting improved benches that wouldn’t wobble while in use (or fix the ones with nails sticking out of them) at his school. Inundated with heat and stifling conditions, both at home and school spelled out as ramshackle structures, he set into motion the circular ethos that defines his practice today.

He went on to share how he is perceived as someone inspirational and wholly successful now (especially after his Pritzker Prize win), but how he faced similar struggles and held on to similar hopes in life (and still does). Vocationally trained as a carpenter ("I’m a real carpenter, even with concrete," he pointed out), the founder and principal of Kéré Architecture began working during the day to earn for his family, resuming studies during the rest of the evening, to complete his high school degree. He then enrolled in an architecture school in Berlin, at the age of 30, an age many associate with having already achieved significant benchmarks in life, including a college education—recalling the experience with fondness and pride, Kéré exclaimed, “Do not tell me its too late to become an architect!”

After studying architecture for two and a half years, he returned home with a humble yet powerful vision to design a proper school within and for his community, manifesting a structure of clay and mud, and ultimately, commencing his illustrious career. From a humble educational building to a full-grown campus in rural Burkina Faso in West Africa, the Gando Primary School, he reveals with pride and joy, is still standing, sans any major repairs, brightly perfumed with natural light, and comfortable in its properly ventilated spaces. The sustainable architecture, which was finished while he was still a student at the Technical University Berlin (and subsequently won him the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004), also stands as a proud testament to the power of the community, who were intensely involved while building and maintaining it, having made it with their own hands and their own local resources. A community that stayed, inspired by being engaged with the Burkinabè architect who pronounced value to his homeland and the culture he grew up with.

This process of applying vernacular techniques to craft modern built typologies earned Kéré the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2022. His methodology of utilising and implementing materials that are copious in context is largely known—namely, the earth (clay, mud, and brick) and locally sourced wood. Often, these local elements that are leftover are used to craft chairs and other small-scale product designs, leaving no stone unturned when it comes to a comprehensive application of materials to create spaces of comfort and dignity.

I am an optimist. I am focused on the making. Architecture, to me, is caring. – Diébédo Francis Kéré

In his UIA 2023 keynote, its ensuing discussion, and the interview with STIR, Kéré remained steadfast to his climate-responsive designs, illustrating an ongoing pursuit of ‘doing more with less,’ employing what is abundant to create, using the region’s Indigenous influences, and therefore, setting in motion, cycles of repair and sustainability through architecture. It is not unusual for communities to assist or build structures for themselves in a lot of countries, but local interventions are chiefly perceived to be inferior, as bodily service and labour in most first-world ‘developed’ countries, and maybe, it is that viewpoint that disables them in a powerful endeavour of wholesome community involvement, to literally build for themselves.

Striking success with this nuanced approach of architecture, where the community itself is empowered by building its own buildings, Kéré, perchance not literally, but unconsciously, opposes the current paradigm, where modern is not synonymous with European aesthetics, and successful architecture is not entirely defined by the West, overlooking innovations rooted in nature. As the first African recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Kéré has persisted as an evangelist for local materials, relaying the significance and gratification of building with them, spotlighting it profusely during his participation at the 28^the edition of the UIA World Congress of Architects this year.

But local doesn’t mean cheap. “Cheap solution is dangerous,” relays Kéré, persistently mentioning how we need to be smart and resourceful while building and assaying solutions—not frugal in its literal sense—and focusing on increasing the lifespan of buildings which ultimately, lessens the cost and effort to maintain, fix, or renew them in the long run. "If a building can survive many years like we see in the traditional way of building, it is a good solution," he continued.

I don’t see myself as a ‘Purist’—I would rather call myself a ‘Material Opportunist.' – Diébédo Francis Kéré

Agreeing with Rosing as he elaborated on his research focusing on the impact of life on the geological evolution of our planet, on how life is unique to Earth as we know it, the African architect also advises not to complicate things (as we often tend to), to stick to common sense, and build in pursuit of inclusivity, especially species oriented. His works, particularly back home in Burkina Faso, set an educational and inspiring curriculum centred around community—when the community itself is involved in the building process, it endows them true ownership, in turn, empowering them. Adapting to contextual and material constraints rests at the core of his eponymous firm, which the architect runs alongside the Kéré Foundation, a non-profit organisation evincing multiple community-centred projects in his native village of Gando, its influence ever expanding.

The key, according to him, is to learn from each other, in an endeavour to avoid intentional polarising, stepping away from the ‘us vs them’ mentality, believing it to be detrimental to growth. Certain dogmatic principles, while intentionally innocuous in the inception and responding to quicker construction methods, have come to express harm to the environment, revealing the inequities within the architectural canon. To combat that, the industry as a collective, needs to learn and unlearn, align precedents that value the environment and take decisions that inspire other creatives to build sustainably. “We need to adapt to inspire,” he said, valuing longevity in thought and in deed, manifested within his fantastically simple yet effective structures, where he fixes and adapts as he goes.

But as the whole dogma of ‘recycling and upcycling’ culture goes, he is of the opinion that it isn’t wholly practical to simply recycle ourselves out of damage and overconsumption. There is a shared sense of urgency for the discipline to level up, minimising wastage as much as possible, even if the process of construction becomes more layered or deliberate, as ‘slow progress is still progress.’

Leading by simply showing up and doing, Kéré stands for hope, in the way we approach building, what we stand for, and how we can do more with less. “I am an optimist. Architecture, to me, is caring,” he declared, without pretence. “I believe that the best way to make things better is simply, to do them. It is crucial to not only be reactive but be proactive,” he reiterates, resonating and responding to the theme of the congress.

A democratic architecture of hope and resolutions

Furthermore, we simply cannot continue to remain resistant to inclusion, in this day and age of urgency, where we have proof of the world succumbing to our greed-infused, lucrative systems of construction that we’ve awarded false glory. Humans, conditioned to believe the planet belongs to them, and only them, have a responsibility to step back, accrue the damage inflicted, and reflect on how the Earth belongs to and continues to nurture innumerable species, and how we are just a tiny percentage of that.  

Rosing and Kéré shared common ideologies when it came to remaining hopeful and positive. The edges of our planet might be frayed, with all the waste and carbon the architectural and design discipline produces, but we also have the potential to stitch some parts of it back to health, only if we decide to unite and work towards that common goal. Of course, it is easier said than done, considering innumerable variables of global politics, set-building regulations, privileges, and years of conditioning, that make it challenging to truly set a momentum of change.

Unlearning is harder than learning, but that indoctrination is required, now more than ever. If established architects like Kéré, and most of the panellists at the UIA Congress of Architects 2023, are determinedly headed towards creating a legacy of healing and inclusivity, innovation and accessibility, prioritising considerations of the environment, that hope keeps value. At heart, these are democratic interventions, for and built by the community, that can attempt to shift, or perhaps, revolutionise the course of the industry, giving each other agency, a sense of true ownership and belonging. Conceivably then, by leaving no one behind, can we truly accept our roles in the bigger veracity of global architecture, where our needs matter as much as the earth’s, and its myriad offspring.

Watch the full interview with architect Francis Kéré by tapping on the cover video.

The UIA World Congress 2023 programme featured talks, panel discussions, and presentations by influential and innovative creative practices. STIR as an official Media Partner brings you the highlights of the congress through a series of interviews, visits, and conversations.