Architect Diébédo Francis Kéré has been selected as the 2022 laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the first honoree to have been born in Africa.

Founded in 1979 by Jay and Cindy Pritzker and funded by the Hyatt Foundation, the $100,000 prize honors a living architect or architects whose work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment to humanity and the built environment. A native of Burkina Faso, Kéré is based out of Berlin and has built contemporary school institutions, health facilities, professional housing, civic buildings and public spaces—often in lands where resources are fragile and fellowship is vital. His designs are laced with symbolism and his works outside of Africa are influenced by his upbringing and experiences in Gando, Burkina Faso. While many of his built works are located in Africa—in countries such as Benin, Burkino Faso, Mali, Togo, Kenya, Mozambique, Togo, and Sudan—pavilions and installations also have been created in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

“I am hoping to change the paradigm, push people to dream and undergo risk. It is not because you are rich that you should waste material. It is not because you are poor that you should not try to create quality,” said Kéré. “Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury, and everyone deserves comfort. We are interlinked and concerns in climate, democracy, and scarcity are concerns for us all.”

“Francis Kéré is pioneering architecture—sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants—in lands of extreme scarcity. He is equally architect and servant, improving upon the lives and experiences of countless citizens in a region of the world that is at times forgotten,” said Hyatt Foundation chair Tom Pritzker. “Through buildings that demonstrate beauty, modesty, boldness and invention, and by the integrity of his architecture and geste, Kéré gracefully upholds the mission of this prize.” 

(Photo Credit: Lars Borges)