Kéré, Diébédo Francis (1965-…), a Burkinabe architect, became in 2022 the first African and first Black person to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Kéré was born in Gando, Burkina Faso, southeast of the nation’s capital, Ouagadougou. The Pritzker prize is the most prestigious international award in architecture. Kéré’s style makes use of local and sustainable resources. Sustainable resources are those that can be used in ways that are compatible with long-term environmental, economic, and social well-being. His work incorporates both traditional building styles and modern engineering. Kéré has become known for projects that include the community by consulting, training, and employing local people. He has created award-winning structures in Africa and around the world. 
Kéré was born on April 10, 1965. His father served as village chief of Gando. At the age of seven, Kéré left to be educated in the neighboring town of Tenkodogo, becoming the first person from Gando to attend school. Unpleasantly hot and dim classroom conditions there inspired him to become an architect and design better educational facilities.
In 1985, Kéré received a scholarship for an apprenticeship in carpentry in Germany. He began studying architecture in 1995 at the Technical University of Berlin, earning a degree in 2004. Kéré established his own architectural firm in 2005.
In 1998, while still a student, Kéré established a nonprofit organization to build schools in Burkina Faso. In 2001, he built the Gando Primary School. Kéré drew upon his own experience as a student to design an improved school. He used clay bricks mixed with cement and a floating (suspended) roof to keep the building cool and well ventilated. The walls include openings that allow light to filter in. The villagers offered advice on the design and constructed the school themselves. Kéré adopted this working model for future buildings.
Kéré has become known for designs that imitate natural forms. He modeled the Startup Lions Campus (2021) a technological training facility in Kenya, on termite mounds. The design helps to keep the buildings cool in the tropical heat. In 2021, Kéré won a competition to design the Benin National Assembly. Kéré’s design recalls the palaver tree, traditionally a site of discussion and decision-making for West African peoples.
Kéré has also designed many outdoor spaces tailored to local climates. They include several buildings in the National Park of Mali (2010); the Serpentine Pavilion (2017), which debuted in London, England; and Xylem (2019), an open-air structure at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, near Yellowstone National Park.
