Diébédo Francis Kéré Biography, Age, Project, Net Worth

Diébédo Francis Kéré is a famous Burkinabe-German architect, revered for his innovative and nature-friendly works. He is the first African to receive the Pritzker Architecture Award; he is also the founder of Kere Architecture.

Diébédo Francis Kéré Biography

Diébédo Francis Kéré was born on 10 April 1965 in the little village of Gando in Burkina Faso. His father was a village chief, and he needed someone who was able to read and translate his letters, so he sent his son, Diébédo Francis Kéré, to school so he could learn how to read. This also made him the first child in the village to be sent to school. He is the only known child of his parents.

Diébédo Francis Kéré Educational Background

Diébédo Francis Kéré had to leave his family to go live with his uncle in the city at the young age of 7 because there were no schools in his village. After finishing his secondary education, he came back to the village and worked as a carpenter for a few years until he received a scholarship for an apprenticeship in Germany. In later years after the apprenticeship, he went back to school to study architecture; he graduated from the Technische Universität Berlin in 2004.

Diébédo Francis Kéré Career

Academics

Kere worked as a lecturer for a long period of his life; he taught architecture at several universities, like Technische Universität Berlin, Virginia Tech, Washington University, and the University of Texas at Wisconsin. In Milwaukee, he was a visiting professor at Harvard and Yale; he also taught at Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio in Switzerland, to mention a few.

Main Career

While he was still in school, he decided to design a school for his home village since they had none at that time. Due to lack of funds, he worked hand in hand with the villagers using eco-friendly materials, like bamboo, leaves, and thatch. For this collaboration and design, he won the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2009. From then on, his career has only gone up; he has designed several awe-inspiring edifices since then and received several awards for his work. Kere’s design has also taken up residence in countries all over the world. Most recently his design for a Las Vegas museum was approved, and construction is set to start sometime before 2027.

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Diébédo Francis Kéré Awards

Kere has received several awards, prizes, and accolades for his work throughout his career; some of them include:

• Aga Khan Award For Architecture (2004)
• Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2009)
• Swiss Architecture Award (2010)
• Marcus Prize for Architecture (2011)
• Holcim Awards Gold 2011 Africa Middle East
• Global Holcim Awards 2012 Gold
• Schelling Architecture Award (2014)
• Kenneth Hudson Award for European Museum of the Year (2015)
• American Academy for Arts and Letters Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize (2017)
• Pritzker Architecture Prize (2022)
• Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum (2024)

Diébédo Francis Kéré Projects

• Centre for Earth Architecture, Mopti – A mosque restoration project. The design allows for natural ventilation through openings in the wall and vaults.
• Dano Secondary School – This project was inspired by his previous work in Gando. In that area, heat is always a major problem, so that was the main issue he faced. He decided to coat the walls with locally sourced laterite stone; he set the building to the east, which reduced direct sun rays to the walls. The roof was designed in a protruding manner in order to provide shade.
• Opera Village – This was a project for people affected by floods; he was hired by the German film and theater director Christopher Schlingensief.
• Zhoushan Harbour Development, China – The aim of this project was to turn the harbor area into a tourist and cultural abode. He designed it to meet the demands of modernization and at the same time retain the area’s cultural history.
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, Geneva – He was one of the architects involved in the designing of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in 2014.

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Diébédo Francis Kéré Age

Diébédo Francis Kéré was born on 10 April 1965; as of 2025, he is 60 years old.

Diébédo Francis Kéré Wife and Family

Diébédo Francis Kéré is married and possibly has kids; he is constantly photographed with her at events. Aside from that, she is totally unknown to the public, the same with his family; he ensures to keep his private life very private

Diébédo Francis Kéré Net Worth

As of 2025, his net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, wealth accumulated during the course of his career as a professor, as a designer, and much more.

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Diébédo Francis Kéré Social Media Handles

Although he is not really active on social media, he tries to use them to post pictures and videos of his completed work.

• Instagram: @kerearchitecture
• Twitter X: @Kéré Architecture
• Facebook: Kéré Architecture 
• Contact Us: Kéré Architecture