Arquitectura Viva 245: Francis Kéré
Four Works in Africa. With no other aspiration than to serve people in the most efficient and economical way possible, Francis Kéré has been able to connect the best of his Western training with the traditions of his native culture, anchored in the earth and community spirit. Arquitectura Viva celebrates his recent winning of the Pritzker Prize through a selection of civic works and projects that the architect has developed in different countries in his continent: the Burkina Institute of Technology in Koudoudou (Burkina Faso), the Startup Lions campus in Turkana (Kenya), the Goethe Institute in Dakar (Senegal), and the Benin National Assembly in Porto Novo.
The dossier for this issue presents four buildings that highlight the rich gamut of possibilities offered by brick, a material with a tradition that goes way back but which is currently in full force all over the globe: a primary healthcare center by BAAS Arquitectura and AIS in Premiá de Dalt (Spain), a public market by Colectivo C733 in Matamoros (Mexico), a Trappist monastery by Localworks in Kijonjo (Uganda), and an art center by Roarc Renew in Jiaxing (China).
In the Art/Culture section, tribute is given to four important figures on the occasion of their centenaries: José Luis García del Busto goes through the architectural and musical trajectory of Iannis Xenakis, Joaquín Medina Warmburg remembers Günter Behnisch, María Teresa Muñoz does the same for Kevin Roche, and Eduardo Prieto reviews the influence of Reyner Banham. Finally, the usual News and Books sections are complemented by essays where Luis Fernández-Galiano analyzes the ties between architecture and politics and Jean-Louis Cohen the usefulness of history.