Architects |

Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies.

Noomdo Orphanage / Kere Architecture

Situated in the rural countryside of the Boulkiemdé province of Burkina Faso, the Noomdo Orphanage lies approximately 2 kilometers outside of the city of Koudougou. Mimicking the nearby residential compounds, the project is layed out in a similar way to a small village clustered around a communal outdoor space. The complex consists of 5 modular courtyard buildings, a shaded open-air dining hall...

Francis Kéré Unveils Burkina Faso's New National Assembly in Ouagadougou

At the 2016 Venice Biennale, Francis Kere unveiled, as part of the exhibition “in search of a new Ouagadougou” the schemes for the design of the Burkina Faso National Assembly. In the transformative time for Burkina Faso, the scheme can be summed as tackling the fundamental question of “How do we move forward”. It consequently not only seeks to address the democratic values of transparency, ope...

Meroe Royal Baths Protective Shelter / Kere Architecture

Kere Architecture has been chosen to develop the Meroe Royal Baths Protective Shelter in Sudan and they are doing it in clay and stone. Reminiscent of what the firm has come to be known of, the structure is an understated quiet edifice that uses local materials such as clay and stone to construct a long term structure. This is a culminated effort of a competition that needed to portray both sen...

Mopti Centre For Earth Architecture / Kere Architecture

The Centre for Earth Architecture is part of a series of developments the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has carried out in Mopti. Others included the restoration of a dilapidated mosque and the construction of a new sewerage system for the town. This beautiful mud-brick building is situated dramatically on the edge of a lake and aligned with the mosque in the rear. The waterfront was backfi...

Benga Riverside Residential Community / Kere Architecture

Our favorite Burkinabe architect of the German based architectural office Kere Architecture comes to us yet with another of a sustainable environment within the continent. This is a project that oozes the picturesque spirit of a rural environment, in a move aimed at "fostering an atmosphere of economic housing within the Mozambican community of Tete.

National Park of Mali / Kere Architecture

Amidst the senseless construction of commercial urban projects in Bamako, a welcoming vision of nature and beauty stands at the entrance of the National Park. The renowned architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, Aga Khan Award for Architecture recipient in 2004, was commissioned to redevelop 8 existing structures and design a primary and secondary gate, an entry building, a youth and sports centre, a ...

Gando Primary School / Kéré Architecture

If you have had the chance to interact with the works of one Diebedo Francis Kere, then you will understand why ArchiDATUM loves this man. His work speaks volumes about architecture in Africa; designing for what we know, and where our heart is. If you have heard the opportunity to listen to Kere talk about his work, then you know he is a passionate man, and a humorous one, if I might add. Susta...

Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale/ Kéré Architecture

Located in Laongo, a village not too far from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, the health facility known as Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale,which translates to Centre for health and social advancement was set up as an important component of the Village Opera project produced in conjunction with the late Christoph Schlingensief, and is geared towards providing basic health and medic...

Opera Village Laongo/ Kéré Architecture

Initiated by the German film and theatre director, actor and artist Christoph Schlingensief, the Opera Village is an arts education project operated by Festspielhaus Afrika. When Francis Kéré first heard the idea of an opera house for Africa, he thought that it was crazy until he met Christoph Schlingensief, the initiator and visionary of the project "Opera House for Africa”. The architect’s co...