CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 7/15/2017

Exceptional architecture in 'Francis Kéré: Radically Simple'

Born in Burkina Faso and educated in Berlin, architect Francis Kéré became one of the world’s most respected architects practically overnight when he returned to Sub-Saharan Africa to build a primary school complex in Gando, his home village. Using locally available materials, he involved the community not just in the decision-making, but in the construction of the complex itself. Soon after, teacher housing, a school extension, a library, a kitchen, a sports field, a secondary school complex and a women’s community center were added. Today, the number of students in Gando is 844, where there were only 120 in 2001, when the school was completed. Featured here is a surgical clinic and health center built in Léo, Burkina Faso in 2014.