Kéré Architecture

The entire continent of Africa is responsible for less than 4% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. This startling fact gives pause. A moment in which to look and feel. To consciously create goals in line with needs determined from within. To find modes of building that do not replicate loss but rebuild ancient knowledge. To find knowledge that is not worthless but rather constitutes an invaluable wisdom that can fuel hope.
To do just that, Counteract celebrates West African architectural prowess of the past, takes stock of today’s situation and nudges us towards a different approach. It is a viable and fantastic vision of architecture. Kéré Architecture considers materials and skills required to build buildings that are not too hot or cramped, dwellings that existed in a time before the current status quo. Kéré Architecture re-centres the value of this embedded knowledge, proposing it as a ‘counteract’ to the chase for modern architecture.

Authorial collaborators
Fabiola Büchele
Team
Andrea Maretto, Leonne Vögelin, Nataniel Sawadogo, Stage One, Jon Leach (AECOM, Buildings + Places); Rino De Michele, Margherita Giuge, Fabio Santin (ApARTe°/Escuela Moderna)
With the additional support of
ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen