The architect

Born in Burkina Faso in 1965, Diébédo Francis Kéré came to Germany on a scholarship, where he began studying architecture after completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter. Kéré was awarded the prestigious Aga Khan Prize for his first project, a primary school in his home village, which he realised while still a student. He later planned an opera village in Africa for director Christoph Schlingensief, worked for clients all over the world, took up a professorship at the Technical University of Munich in 2017 and later a visiting professorship at Yale. The 58-year-old is currently one of the world's most sought-after building designers of our time.