Diébédo Francis Kéré, a visionary architect from Burkina Faso, has been awarded the 2024 Crystal Award for his outstanding leadership in sustainable projects benefitting the Gando community. The other two leaders who received the honour this year include Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh and producer, guitarist, composer and humanitarian Nile Rodgers. REad complete report on SURFACES REPORTER (SR):
Presented at Davos each year by Hilde Schwab, Chairwoman and Co-Founder of the World Economic Forum’s World Arts Forum, the Award celebrates the achievements of leading artists who are bridge-builders and role models for all leaders of society.
The cultural leaders receiving this award this year were chosen for their ability to connect us to each other, help us reflect on the human condition and provide visions of the world that can cut through the limitations of short-term or linear thinking
Architect and Educator Diébédo Francis Kéré was chosen for his exemplary leadership in providing the Gando community with the means to create a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable future through projects that focus on education, health and the environment.
Kéré is a native of Burkina Faso and studied at the Technical University of Berlin. Parallel to his studies, he established the Kéré Foundation to support the development of his home village. In 2005, he opened the architectural office Kéré Architecture. His architectural practice has received national and international recognition, including the Pritzker Prize (2022), the Praemium Imperiale (2023) and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2004), awarded for his first building, the Gando Primary School in Burkina Faso.
Kéré has developed innovative construction strategies that combine traditional building techniques and materials with modern methods. His use of local materials, local knowledge and local technologies creates holistic and sustainable design solutions. He is currently working on the Benin National Assembly, the Goethe-Institut Senegal in Dakar and a mausoleum for Burkinabè revolutionary Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou. He has held professorships at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Swiss Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. Since 2017, he is professor at TU Munich and Yale University (2019).
“I have witnessed the power of architecture as a tool for social transformation, from laying the bricks for a school building in my native Gando, to designing a new national parliament for Benin,” he said.
“Regardless of wealth, we must be conscious of our environmental impact and strive to bring comfort and a sustainable future to all.”
Learn more about Ar Kere and his works here:
Know All About Diébédo Francis Kéré, The First African to Win the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize