In a New Book, Francis Kéré Unpacks the Collaborative Spirit Behind His Pioneering Work
A thoughtful new Taschen volume reveals the depth and creativity behind the Pritzker Prize-winning architect and his humanist mission
Beneath the translucent blue paper cover of Francis Kéré’s new book, Building Stories, is a brown cardboard one covered in handwritten questions. How can architecture provide comfort for everyone? How to build in harmony with nature? How to never stop dreaming? It’s utopian stuff, but also the very foundations that underpin the work of the illustrious architect, born in Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African country, and educated in Berlin.
Kéré studied architecture in Germany in order to return to his village, Gondo, and provide essential buildings like schools and housing. Along the way, he has proved that working within local conditions and wholly engaging with climate and geography is a good way to build. In 2022, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize—the most prestigious award in architecture—at a ceremony in London. Even Tom Pritzker’s charmless inability to pronounce Ouagadougou, the name of Burkina Faso’s capital city, couldn’t stifle the joy in the room.
At Milan Design Week in April, Kéré’s new book, published by Taschen, was launched with a well-attended talk at the Triennale building. He then proceeded to the Taschen bookstore, where a seemingly endless line of eager people trailed out the door and down the street as they waited for him to sign their copy. Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas showed up to pay his respects. “Benedict Taschen was just a friend,” says Kéré of the book’s publisher. “He used to come to Berlin and call ‘Where are you Francis? Let’s go out and party.’ Then, suddenly, he proposed a publication.”
The book, a beautiful production by Koolhaas’s favorite Irma Boom, filled with doodles and hand-penned observations, changes of paper stock and annotated plans, weaves between Kéré’s now impressive roster of projects and his own personal story. In parts, it’s an emotional ride. He talks beautifully about conflicting responsibilities—what it’s really like to build in complex places like Mali and Togo, while teaching at Harvard and attending endless conferences to raise funds for projects. He doesn’t shy away from his experience of being an African in Germany (difficult at times), or his grief upon his father’s death, and his decision not to become the chief of his village. Along the way, project after project emerges, in sync with its landscape and locality.
Kéré had come to Milan directly from Senegal, and the official opening of the Goethe Institute in Dakar, a sizable two-story building made of perforated red clay blocks that is a new cultural hub for the region. “I’m shocked by how much attention this building has got,” says the architect, after reviews remarked on its sensitivity to the neighborhood, beautiful craftsmanship, and material delight (the clay is local). “All I want is for people to understand how collaborative the process is. It’s about listening to people, to shape their vision.”
Currently underway is a major project in Benin, West Africa, to house the national parliament, as well as a library in Rio de Janeiro, which sits opposite Oscar Niemeyer’s Sambodromo parade ground, where the yearly carnival takes place. Kéré’s 400,000-square-foot building itself is a swirl of perforated walls and roofs, where internal and external spaces flow easily. “Niemeyer is one of my heroes,” says Kéré. “He’s an architect who created a contemporary architecture with full respect to his own culture and geography.” In the U.S., he fell in love with Frank Lloyd Wright when he stayed at Taliesin West. “It’s the way he built the house into the rock; he worked around nature. It really inspired me,” says Kéré.
Another key project is an art museum for Las Vegas, which is currently at the design stage. “Elaine Wynn called me and said ‘Francis, we want to work with you,’” he explains. “We want you to create something for our community. You’re a man of the desert. You understand.” Wynn, who, with husband Steve, established many of the city’s casinos and hotels, died in 2025, but not before she had assured Kéré’s participation. “I’m looking into how we can use local stone to integrate nature into a prestigious building,” says Kéré. “Las Vegas is a fiction, a place only to make people happy for a minute. But this project is for those who live here, to bring something more important and grounded to their lives. As always, I’m focused on the materials, and the site, and the people.”
In the book, Kéré speaks frequently about building with the people for the people. And he practices what he preaches. His work in his home country has skilled-up a huge number of people, while his Burkina Faso Craft and Research Center has emerged out of a need to never waste a single resource in a poor part of West Africa. Here he keeps leftovers, builds prototypes and recycles and reuses all manner of materials. “Architecture not only contains knowledge, it spreads it,” he says. “Everyone should design. It’s the best way to avoid being designed yourself.”
Francis Kéré’s Building Stories will be available in the U.S. on June 7, and a signing is planned for Los Angeles, with a date to be decided.