On March 15, 2022, the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in architecture, was announced, and Diebedo Francis Carlyle from Burkina Faso became the first African and black architect to receive the award. "His architecture, built for the community and co-living with the community, reflects every aspect of the community – from construction, materials, planning to the character of the community has been integrated into the building." "All of his works show the world that rooted in local materials can create unlimited power." Carlyle is also an educator and social activist who has been campaigning to promote education in his hometown and improve child malnutrition. He believes that everyone, rich or poor, deserves quality, beauty, comfort and "luxury."
In diébédo Francis Kéré's native language, "diebédo" means "the one who organizes things," which seems to have become a kind of "prophecy" for his future achievements.
2022 Pritzker Prize winner Diebedo Francis Carlyle is from Burkina Faso and is the first African and black architect to receive the award. He owns an architect's firm and a foundation in Berlin, Germany.
The "privilege" of going to school
Burkina Faso is located in West Africa, where it is one of the least developed countries in the world, according to the World Bank. Carlyle was born in 1965 in Gando, a village in central Burkina Faso, where access to drinking water was poor, backward, without electricity and difficult to access to drinking water. Carlyle is the eldest son of the village chief, and the radial imprint of the sun's rays in a circle around his face proves his special status. His father wanted Carlyle to read and translate letters, but there was no school in the village, and 7-year-old Carlyle had to go with his uncle to Tuncodogo, 20 kilometers away, to attend primary school, where he usually lived in his uncle's house and could only return home on holidays. He was the first child in the village to go to school.
The radial imprint on Carlyle's face is a symbol of the bloodline of the village chief of Gando
Burkina Faso has a savannah climate with high temperatures all year round, with a maximum temperature of up to 45 °C. At that time, Carlyle and more than 100 classmates huddled together in a dark, cramped, stuffy classroom every day, "the sun outside the window was so bright, but the classroom was too dark to read." Since then, I've vowed to try to change all that when I grow up. ”
When Carlyle was a child reading in such a dark classroom, he was inspired to grow up to provide a bright, comfortable and airy learning environment for the children in his hometown.
"Every holiday I go back to Gando and go door to door to say goodbye before school starts. All the women would open their pockets and give me the only one or two coins they had. In my culture, this represents deep affection. I asked my mother, why do they love me so much? She replied that they wanted me to succeed in my studies, to return to Gando, and to change Gando. This scene made Carlyle unforgettable, and he always studied with the ideal of serving his hometown.
After graduating from elementary school, Carlyle became a carpenter. In 1985, he received a professional carpentry scholarship from the Carl Duisburg Association and went to Berlin, Germany, as an assistant to the Director of Development Assistance, where he learned to build roofs and make furniture. Carlyle knows that it is not enough to master carpentry skills, so he goes to night school every day after work to take a cram school course. He was again awarded a scholarship to study architecture and civil engineering at the Technical University of Berlin, completing his studies at the age of 39 and graduating from the Gando Primary School, which has since made him famous all over the world.
Come from the village and go back to the village
Building an elementary school for his hometown has always been Carlyle's wish. As early as college, he founded the "Bricks of Gando Elementary School" project (Schulbausteine für Gando, later renamed the Carlyle Foundation), and after completing the drawing design, he began to raise funds for his first architectural project. "Raising $50,000 was not an easy task, and I even advised my classmates to buy a few few cups of coffee and packs of cigarettes and use the money to support my construction plan in Gando." Imagine how much caret carlyle, alone in a foreign country, spent trying to build a school for the children in his hometown, how many lobbies he lobbied, and how many times he was rejected.
Two years later, Carlyle excitedly returned to Gando with all the fundraising, and the whole village was ecstatic. Everyone was shocked when they heard that Carlyle was planning to use clay as a building material. Clay is the most common building material in Gando and is used by every household, but the local houses are poorly sturdy and are at risk of collapse during the rainy season. "How does clay survive the rainy season?" "Is that what you learned in Europe?" "If you knew this, it would be better to stay in the countryside and work!" Questions like these flooded Carlyle.
However, it was through study in Europe that Carlyle chose clay with great determination. He believes that building houses in Africa cannot simply "copy and paste" Western practices without taking into account the actual situation on the ground. Gando water is tight, there is no electricity supply, and the urban buildings of reinforced concrete will only be "water and soil". In addition, the economy is backward and transportation is difficult, and local materials must be used to reduce construction costs and difficulties. As for how to make clay-built houses stronger, Carlyle's method is simple – make bricks from clay added to cement, and high-density clay brick walls are natural heat stores that help keep the interior cool. The villagers never knew that clay could be turned into bricks, so Carlyle taught everyone by hand, including how to pound the clay to make it strong, how to use stones to polish the ground... they used the most primitive way to build, the villagers learned the construction skills, and the cost of construction was reduced to a minimum.
The villagers of Gando village use the most primitive construction methods, and the villagers have repeatedly fought, beating the mallet to compact the clay, and using people instead of conveyor belts to transport the clay mud.
In addition, Carlyle built vents on the slope of the roof; wide tin eaves effectively blocked out strong sunlight and wind and sand; the reservoir under the ventilation window reduced the temperature of the airflow into the room, the hot air flow was discharged through the holes in the ceiling, ensuring air circulation, and the effect of the passive ventilation system was comparable to that of air conditioning; the sunlight was shot through the bevel opening at the top of the blackboard, just shining on the blackboard; the multi-functional windows could be opened in different ways, and the sand and dust were isolated with a fine pane during the dry season, and the window could be fully opened during the rainy season to increase ventilation. When the sun is strong, the inclination angle can be selected, so that the light is easy to read and the room temperature is not too high... Heat storage body, ventilation tower, indirect light, cross ventilation, from these designs, it is not difficult to glimpse Carlyle's sustainable development concept.
He made the most of natural resources so that Gando Elementary School, which had no running water and no electricity, could be comfortable and shiny enough to be close to the schools in the city. Carlyle also designed a small sheltered plaza on campus where children can rest and communicate. "Everyone has the right to enjoy quality life and beauty. Some people hear that when I built schools in Africa, they thought that there was only one thing in the school that had to be the most basic. I don't accept it, I want to build the best school for my children, even if it's difficult. ”
Carlyle's masterpiece, Gando Elementary School, uses a passive ventilation system to reduce indoor temperatures, and gando village has no electricity supply, and this sustainable design allows children to learn relatively comfortably in the heat of up to 45°C in Africa.
The color of the windows of Gando Elementary School was decided by the villagers of Gando Village, and the windows can be opened in a variety of ways to provide light and ventilation.
Carlyle built a sheltered plaza at Gando Elementary School to provide a public space for children to move.
Carlyle's Kuduguschugar Secondary School uses local eucalyptus strips as a shield, and the sunlight in the cracks is not dazzling and suitable for reading.
In 2001, Gando Primary School was officially completed, and the children could finally go to school comfortably in front of their homes, and the villagers had happy smiles on their faces. Seeing the changes carlyle has brought to their hometowns, parents have gradually realized the importance of education, and after the establishment of Gando Elementary School for two years, there are more than 260 students in the school (from Gando and the surrounding area), the campus is crowded, and the expansion is urgent.
During the expansion, Carlyle designed a double-layer clay arched roof to make the building stronger. But most of the villagers could not read, let alone understand the architectural drawings, so Carlyle first made a small clay vault to show the villagers, and then started construction after everyone understood. The expanded Gando Primary School can accommodate more than 500 students. Subsequently, Carlyle led the construction of teachers' dormitories, libraries, gardens and other supporting facilities. When building the library, he tried to cut the clay pots that were abundant in the local area, place them on the roof, and then pour concrete to ventilate and increase the light. Whether it's a new build or an extension, Carlyle's training in the villagers' construction skills runs through the process, which also pins on his deeper vision: to let young people master a skill, they can stay in the local area to earn money to support their families, without having to leave their homes to work.
When the Gando Elementary Library was built, Carlyle cut and fixed the common clay pots to the roof, both to ventilate and make full use of local resources.
Children attend classes at the bright Gando Elementary School. Carlyle has brought access to education back home, and the expanded Gando Elementary School can accommodate nearly 500 students in Gando and surrounding villages.
Carlyle is like a super gravitational field, using the power of the community to feed back the community and make longer-term changes than building a house. In his hometown, he launched the Gando Mango Project, which aims to improve child malnutrition. The main food in the area is a cassava product called foufou, which has almost no vitamins in the daily diet, while mangoes are rich in vitamins and nutrients, and mango branches are thick and leafy, like a canopy, which can provide shade. But with widespread termites that erode the roots of fruit trees, and gando villages can't afford pesticides and fertilizers, Carlyle teaches a few tricks to plant: dig a hole and fill it with leftover bone and meat before planting the tree to attract ants to settle here and eat termites; raise chickens under mango trees to make chicken manure a natural fertilizer. In addition, he used clay pots to create a drip irrigation system that provided a small but continuous source of water for mango trees, solving the problem of water shortage irrigation during the dry season. Under Carlyle's guidance, the children not only harvested sweet mangoes, but also the concept of planting trees and environmental protection sprouted in their hearts. The villagers who master these technologies will be able to independently build a better community in the future and pass it on from generation to generation.
In addition to building schools, Carlyle is also implementing the Carlyle Mango Project in Gando, teaching villagers how to plant mango trees to improve child malnutrition.
The success of the Gando Elementary School project has brought about a dramatic change in Gando Village, which also led Carlyle to win the 2004 Aga Khan Architecture Award (one of the most prestigious awards in the architectural world, awarded every 3 years). This is the first time he has won an international award. In 2005, Carlyle, who became famous in World War I, established his own architect's office in Berlin, Germany, and set his sights on the wider world: leo medical and social welfare center, Kuduguschugel Secondary School... Carlyle left his own works in more and more villages and cities in Burkina Faso, bringing hope for education and medical care; Mali National Park, Tatet Benga Riverside School in Mozambique, Lion Start-up Park in Turkana County, Kenya... In the African land, Carlyle has built more "bridges" to the future. Also take Gando's story to the wider world stage.
Carlyle's medical and social welfare center uses square windows as natural ventilation and lighting channels
Schematic of the Burkina Institute of Technology and its passive ventilation system, through the design of the double roof, the hot air flow can be released from the roof in time.
In 2019, Carlyle built a makeshift installation at the Coachella Festival in the United States, Sarbalé Ke, carlyle's native Pisa language meaning "house of celebration", inspired by the baobab tree common in Africa. The colorful "Celebration House" opens up several light, naturally ventilated and sheltered interior spaces for visitors to rest and talk at the crowded music festival site.
A coup d'état in Burkina Faso in 2014 destroyed the Parliament building. Carlyle redesigned the Parliament building with a transparent pyramid façade pinning hopes for political clarity. The project is under construction and this is a rendering provided by Carlyle Architects.
Arrived in the world from Africa
In 2009, Carlyle won the Global Sustainable Architecture Awards hosted by the City of Architecture and Heritage in Paris (aka the Museum of Architectural Heritage of France), which greatly increased his popularity in Europe and gradually gained the opportunity to participate in more national design projects. He was also appointed Visiting Professor at harvard's Graduate School of Design and yale's School of Architecture, and in 2017 became the first Chair Professor of Architectural Design at the Technical University of Munich. Yet he always remembers where he set sail: "I took inspiration from African culture, embodied it in architectural works, and took it to the world. Through my work, I want to let the world know about Africa and know that Africa has a lot to explore. ”
In 2012, Carlyle was awarded the Holheem Global Gold Medal. Holsim is one of the world's leading suppliers of building materials.
The Serpentine Pavilion is one of the uk's leading modern and contemporary art galleries, located in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, UK. Since 2000, the gallery has invited renowned architects to redesign the gallery every year to build temporary pavilions for summer.
In 2017, Carlyle designed and built an indigo-blue serpentine gallery inspired by the customs of his hometown. The central structure of the gallery refers to the shape of a large tree: "There is a huge tree in my hometown of Gando, under which the villagers gather and discuss matters. That tree is like the center point of the village. "Carlyle hopes that the Serpentine Gallery will be a place for visitors to discuss and exchange views. The triangular indigo modules stitch together to form a meandering façade inspired by traditional African costume patterns, blue symbolizes power in Carlyle's culture; a draped transparent roof canopy shields rainwater and wood strips are spliced together to collect natural light; a fully open structure creates a passive ventilation system with hot air flow rising through gaps in wooden strips; and a funnel-shaped roof collects rainwater into the center of the building to water landscape green spaces as a reminder of the environmental problems of water scarcity. The Pritzker Prize speech refers to Carlyle's serpentine gallery design: "He succeeded in translating trees, long-forgotten basic symbols of the world's original architecture, into a universal visual language in a special and effective way. ”
Carlyle's 2017 Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Palace Gardens in London, the blue triangle pattern that makes up the façade is inspired by the texture of local African clothing. In addition, the blue color used represents strength in African cultures. Dense wooden strips are still used at the top of the gallery so that the light is not too harsh. Photo by Iwan Baan
Tippet Rise Art Center is located on the edge of Yellowstone National Park in Montana, USA, where Carlyle designed the Xylem Pavilion in 2019. The xylem is the transport organization of the tree, responsible for transporting the water and nutrients absorbed by the roots to other "organs" for use, and the pavilion named after it embodies Carlyle's concept of sustainable development - hoping that this building will be like the xylem to the tree, allowing visitors to quietly think, talk and enjoy nature.
Surrounded by poplar trees, this pavilion, built entirely of wood, blends in with the tranquil natural atmosphere around it. Almost entirely of these woods are local pine, cut and polished by craftsmanship, continuing Carlyle's sustainability philosophy of locally sourced timber. The design of the project is inspired by the sacred gathering place "Tuguna", which can be found everywhere in burkina faso villages, where people meditate and communicate. A number of overlapping logs form a petal-shaped dome of the pavilion, a number of hexagonal steel frames hold the wood in place, supported by steel columns; light rays enter through the naturally formed gaps between the logs, which are soft and not hot; and the seats are also cut and polished by logs. The damage to the surrounding natural environment throughout the construction process was minimized, as the Pritzker Prize speech put it: "Carlyle's work also reminds us of the imperative to change unsustainable production and consumption patterns in order to ensure that there are enough buildings and infrastructure for billions of people on the planet." ”
In 2019, Carlyle's xylem pavilion in Montana, USA, was cut and polished using local logs by natural processes to minimize the impact on the environment and implement the concept of sustainable development.
In his message to Carlyle, Mr. Pritzker noted: "He is an architect and, more importantly, a devotee. In lands that are often forgotten by the world, he has improved living conditions and living experiences for countless people. Carlyle's architectural portfolio of beauty, humility, boldness and innovation is the perfect unity of architectural character and personal style. He firmly inherited the mission of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. "It is expected that this futurist architect from Africa will inspire the African people to create an architectural culture belonging to the african continent and the unique aesthetics of African civilization outside of Western culture."