Kenyan architects are designing buildings that respond to the country’s diverse landscapes and ecosystems. In a new episode of Inside Africa, CNN hears from key architect, Francis Kéré about the importance of sustainable design inspired by nature.
Francis Kéré is the first African to win the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honour. His work has turned the world’s gaze to African architecture.
It’s more than just design, it’s a philosophy rooted in community, resilience, and sustainability.
He explains how he utilises local materials and designs spaces to invite the community to come together, “If you see the site, you look at the surroundings, you start to think about how can I create a space where many, many young people, or people, will come together?”
Kéré’s project, Lion Campus in Turkana, Kenya is designed to bring together young refugees and young people from Turkana and introduce them to digital design.
He combines community and sustainability with an innovative use of passive airflow to create buildings that naturally stay cool even in the arid heat of Turkana.
He says: “I was fascinated by these termites, how could they survive in this harsh environment? Of course, I start to research and study and say, wow, there must be there, a very fine, clever cooling idea.
”The design incorporates termite-mound like chimney structures, which draw hot air up and out of the building – these work in tandem with vents around the base of the building which suck in cold air to create a comforting breeze on warm days.”
Kéré ends the episode with a look into an environmentally conscious and adaptive future, “Within the coming decades, if we are aware about our mission and about environmental issues, we will be able to create something that makes a difference. I’m totally convinced. There is no way back.”