Award-winning African architect Diébédo Francis Kéré is renowned for his cross-cultural approach to architecture. Although his office, Kéré Architecture, is based in Berlin, many of his projects are carried out in his native West African country Burkina Faso, where he is known for incorporating local materials and talent into his designs.
“I am working between two continents or between two cultures. And what I’m doing is trying to bridge the gap,” Kére told us at the opening of the 2014 Venice Biennale. Kére has carried out projects such as School Library Gando, Centre for Earth Architecture and the National Park of Mali.
In this interview, Kéré explains his two-continent approach to architecture, what architecture means to him and what “absorbing modernity” means for Burkina Faso.
