The Pritzker Prize 2022 was awarded to Francis Kéré

This year's Pritzker Prize goes to Berlin for the architect, educator, and social activist Diébédo Francis Kéré, hailing from the West African nation of Burkina Faso (translated as the Land of the Just), which is one of the least educated and poorest nations in the world. It is a country without drinking water, electricity, and infrastructure, not to mention architecture. In its more than forty-year history, Kéré has become the first Pritzker Prize laureate originally from the African continent. Through architecture, Kéré empowers and transforms local communities. In his work, he honors a commitment to social justice, engagement, and the intelligent use of local materials in connection with the local climate. Kéré works in overlooked African countries burdened by limitations and misfortune, where architecture and basic infrastructure are completely absent. He builds schools, healthcare facilities, community housing, civic buildings, and public spaces in countries where resources are scarce. The significance of his works transcends the value of the buildings themselves.

“Francis Kéré is a pioneer of architecture that is sustainable for the Earth and its inhabitants. He operates in countries facing extreme scarcity. He is equally an architect and a servant who enhances the lives and experiences of countless inhabitants in a part of the world that is often forgotten. Through buildings that demonstrate beauty, humility, courage, and inventiveness, and through the integrity of his architecture, Kéré gracefully fulfills the mission of this award,” adds Tom Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation.

"I hope to change the paradigm, to push people to dream and take risks. Just because you are rich does not mean you should waste materials. It is not because you are poor that you should not strive to create quality. Everyone deserves quality, everyone deserves luxury, and everyone deserves comfort. We are interconnected, and concerns about climate, democracy, and scarcity affect us all," says Francis Kéré.

The award ceremony will take place in the summer at the Marshall Building belonging to the London School of Economics (LSE), which was completed last year by the Irish Grafton Architects (by the way, the authors Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are recipients of the 2020 Pritzker Prize).

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