SCHOOL

IN GANDO,
BURKINA Diébédo Francis Kéré

FASO BERLIN APRIL 2012

In 2001, architect Diébédo Francis Kéré completed the

design and construction of a primary school for his home
village of Gando in Burkina Faso. Raising funds through
an organisation in Berlin, he applied the knowledge gained
through his architectural education and associates in
Germany to design the school in local sustainable materials.
For its realisation, he drew on valuable village resources,
with the on-site labour being undertaken by the hands of
the men, women and children of Gando.

Kéré Architecture, Primary School, Gando, Burkina Faso, West Africa, 2001
The walls and ceiling are constructed of locally made earth blocks, with the
ceiling supported by reinforcement bars that provide thermal mass and reduce
temperature fluctuation.

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 Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West
Overcrowded classrooms are a result of the project’s success.
Africa, is among the poorest nations in the
world. Two hundred kilometres (124 miles)
from its capital Oua­gadougou lies Gando, a
village with approximately 3,000 inhabitants.
The settlement is formed from a group of
round farmsteads set loosely across the
savanna and surrounded by agricultural land.
Like many villages in West Africa, Gando
suffers from inequality, made worse by the
negative aspects of globalisation. Whoever
is born there has little chance of a modern
education. To ensure the survival of their
community, village children work in the fields My intention was to achieve sustainability
and are unable to attend school. With an by emphasising the use of local materials, the
illiteracy rate of over 80 per cent, the majority
of people have no alternative but to farm. adaptation of new technology in a simple way,
Born in 1965 as the son of the headman, and through the inherent potential of the local
I was the first child from Gando to go to
school. Since none existed in the village, I had
community.
to leave my family when I was seven to live
with my relative in the city. As a 13 year old, I
began a traineeship as a carpenter and at 20
received a scholarship to extend my education
in Germany, where I ultimately graduated
in architecture. While still at university in
1998, a group of friends and I established
the organisation Schulbausteine für Gando
(Bricks for Gando’s School), with the intention
of building a new school. After securing
finance in Berlin through the association,
we started a dialogue with the villagers from
Gando, demanding their input and assistance
to construct the project. Using the knowledge
gained in Germany, my intention was to We began to build the first school in
achieve sustainability by emphasising the October 2000 with the hands of the men,
use of local materials, the adaptation of new women and children of Gando. The primary
technology in a simple way, and through the school consists of three separate rectangular
inherent potential of the local community. classrooms positioned in a row and raised
from the ground like traditional granaries.
The covered spaces between the classrooms
evoke the traditional meeting places of
Burkina Faso and can be used for breaks
or outdoor instruction. We decided to rest
each building’s corrugated metal roof on
top of a light structure of distinctive beams
rather than placing them directly on top of
the supporting walls. Below the girders was
placed a thin ceiling of clay tiles that work
as an insulating and acoustic barrier beneath
the metal roof. The overhanging roof shades
the facades, keeps the rain and sun away
from the masonry, and allows cool air to flow
freely between roof and ceiling. The east–west
orientation of the structure further limits the
extreme heating of the sidewalls by the sun.
Together, these natural cooling systems help
to maintain pleasant internal temperatures
A large oversailing roof unites three linearly arranged classrooms,
between which sit covered outdoor teaching and play spaces. even on the hottest days.
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Kéré Architecture, Teachers’ Housing,
Gando, 2004
Villagers assisted in the production of
the building materials and construction
of the houses. The climax of the building
work was the tamping of the clay floors to
create a smooth, homogeneous surface.

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 Building the school was a true
community effort, with most of the labour
supplied by the villagers. The roof was
fashioned on site and bent into its curved
shape directly on the supporting truss.
Traditionally, the local people shape bricks
for their houses by hand, in wooden frames.
To make these clay bricks more stable, we
introduced a simple machine, powered
by nothing but two people who formed
the bricks in a mould and pressed them.
In the classrooms, the floors are made of
rammed earth stabilised by cement. The
Building the school was a true
shutters and doors are made of steel, using community effort, with most
a technology familiar to that of the local
craftsmen. Through these simple techniques
of the labour supplied by the
that make the most of local materials and villagers. The roof was fashioned
skills, the school raised awareness about
the advantages of combining traditional
on site and bent into its curved
and modern building practices. The process shape directly on the supporting
has had other rewards, too. Many of the
workers who have been trained on site have
truss. Traditionally, the local
since found work as skilled labourers on people shape bricks for their
construction sites beyond Gando. houses by hand, in wooden
frames.

Kéré Architecture, School Extension, Gando, 2008

The roof shades the facades and protects the rammed earth
from rain. Cooling air is allowed to flow between the roof and
the classroom ceilings.

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 While the earlier buildings are strictly rectangular, the library has
an elliptical shape behind a straight facade of eucalyptus wood.
This new element allows a buffer zone between inside and outside
space where visitors can read in the shade.

Kéré Architecture, School Library, Gando, 2012

opposite: The public library, which forms an ensemble together
with the primary school, is currently under construction. Inside,
the openings allow natural light and air to enter.
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 Interest in education rose quickly after
Kéré Architecture, Women’s Association
Center, Gando, 2012 the school’s completion in 2001. Soon, too
A storage room for farming and household many parents had enrolled their children,
production will be incorporated within the
centre to enable the women to store the galvanising us and the villagers to expand
produce they collect in the fields and, later
on, sell it on the market. The prototype for
the project. Following the same conceptual
the storage clay wall was developed by the approach, a school extension was built in
village community.
2008, along with appropriate accommodation
for teachers. After the completion of these
buildings, a women’s centre, a secondary
school, and a library were initiated using
similar principles, enriched by experience
gained through earlier construction.
While the earlier buildings are strictly
rectangular, the library has an elliptical
shape behind a straight facade of eucalyptus
wood. This new element allows a buffer
zone between inside and outside space
where visitors can read in the shade. The
building materials are mainly compressed
earth blocks, but the ceiling construction
and geometry are unique among the school’s
buildings, containing traditional clay pots
embedded within its concrete structure to
evenly distribute natural light and ventilation
across the interior. The most recent initiative
in the Gando project is the new secondary
school, which will provide an extended level
of education to the community. In March
2012, the secondary school and its passive
ventilation concept were awarded the Global
Holcim Award Gold, rewarding our team
and the people of Gando for their dedication
to sustainable architecture in the field of
development aid.
However, more important than this
acknowledgement is that the projects
have provided the children of Gando
with a platform to learn basic skills from
which they and their families can benefit.
The community’s commitment and self-
organisation has not only set an example
for neighbouring villages, but has also
provoked the local authorities to recognise
the wider importance of schemes of this
nature. These are projects that extend much
further than passive environmental design;
they encompass an essential developmental
aspect. The success of the school has united
the inhabitants of Gando. With the active
participation of the villagers, the project
has spurred self-empowerment, confidence
and solidarity as the community confronts
the responsibility of building its own future,
together. 2

Text © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Images:

pp 67(r), 70, 71 © Diébédo Francis Kéré;
pp 66, 67(l), 68-9 Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

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