Atelier Gando

Gando, Burkina Faso

Kéré Architecture

architecture agency, Berlin

Learning to be independent

This is not the first time architect Diébédo Francis Kéré has carried out a project in his native village of Gando in Burkina Faso, which he left to pursue his studies in Europe: schools, a library, teachers’ housing, a women’s centre… all these buildings respond to the question of educa- tion. According to Kéré, who is the son of the former village chief, this is the first condition necessary for achieving autonomy.

He has now created Atelier Gando, a learning centre for building with local resources: the materials and men and women of the area. Atelier Gando is an amplifier of knowledge and expertise, which can then spread to even the remotest villages. It is also a bridge between Gando and the world that sparks interactions between Western and African craftsmen, labourers, architects, and students.

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photographs : © Kéré Architecture