Pritzker Prize awarded to Burkina Faso-German architect

By JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer

The Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded to Diébédo Francis Kéré, a Berlin-based architect, educator and social activist, for a craft that is “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants in lands of extreme scarcity,” especially in Africa and his native Burkina Faso. The award, sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation, is considered the highest honor in the field. Most of Kéré’s built works are in Africa, in countries including Benin, Burkino Faso, Mali, Kenya, Mozambique, Togo and Sudan. He has also designed pavilions or installations in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, organizers said.