Francis Kéré StoryMap

Diébédo Francis Kéré is an architect and educator born in Burkina Faso and based in Berlin. He is the first African and Black recipient of the renowned Pritzker Prize in Architecture, a recipient of the “Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine’s Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2009), BSI Swiss Architectural Award (2010); the Global Holcim Awards Gold (2012, Zurich, Switzerland), Schelling Architecture Award (2014); Arnold W Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts & Letters (2017); the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture (2021); and Praemium Imperiale (2023)” ¹ .

We have had the honor of hosting Francis as a visiting professor here at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He also taught at Yale School of Architecture, and the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. He has held the inaugural Chair of Architectural Design and Participation professorship at the Technische Universität München since 2017. His works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions at the  Venice Biennale Architecture , the  Museo ICO in Madrid , the  Architekturmuseumin Munich , and the  PhiladelphiaMuseum of Art   ² 

Furthermore, he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (2018) and the American Institute of Architects (2012) and a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2009).

Journey with us through this StoryMap as we follow Francis’ firm, Kéré Architecture, around the world starting from his very first project, Gando Primary School.

Use the scrollbar below to explore Francis’ works across four continents and learn more about the Gando Primary School project, where it all started.

This Francis Kéré StoryMap was composed by Olufemi Olamijulo, a student in the  Master of Urban Planning  program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and  Master of Public Policy  program at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Esri technology used: ArcGIS Pro, Online, and StoryMaps.