Francis Kéré to build huge mobile theater in Berlin
Stefan Dege kbm
November 17, 2016
Francis Kéré, a renowned architect from Burkina Faso, is to repurpose a disused airplane hangar at Berlin's former Tempelhof airport. Meanwhile, his works - including his famous opera village - are on show in Munich.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Balk
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Architect Francis Kéré - a master of simplicity
Francis Kéré built a so-called opera village in his home country, Burkina Faso, for the late German theater director Christoph Schlingensief. His designs are striking in their simplicity and cultural depth.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Balk
Exercise in keeping cool
With his first work, the elementary school in his home village of Gando, Kéré won the renowned Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004. The pressed blocks of earth he used in the structure absorb heat and lower the temperature inside. The large roof made of steel and concrete provides shade and allows air to circulate between the roof and the ceiling.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
Lycée Schorge
The Lycée Schorge, a secondary school in Burkina Faso, follows Kéré's principals of ecological building, according to which he implements local materials and techniques. Kéré also insists on hiring local workers who employ simple tools. That way he ensures that his buildings are rooted in the local culture. Some 350 pupils now attend the Lycée Schorge.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
Giving education a home
In Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, education is expensive and illiteracy is widespread. That is one of the reasons why Kéré wanted to make a statement with his modern Lycée Schorge building.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
Combining skills
Here is another view of the Lycée Schorge. The students spend their breaks in the sunny courtyard, which is tucked in the semi-circle formed by the curved side of the building. Here, the shade provided by the overhanging roof is also visible. The construction combines German engineering with African handicraft. Kéré studied architecture in Berlin.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
School extension
Just recently, Francis Kéré's school in Gando was extended. The building's roof is specifically designed to keep the interior cool in the African heat. Today, the architect manages project the world over - from Burkina Faso to India. He is also increasingly in demand in Europe. In Berlin, he has been commissioned to turn a disused airplane hangar into a mobile theater.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
Kéré's unique approach
Francis Kéré seeks to combine the cultural influences of his home country, Burkina Faso, with his academic experience at the Technical University in Berlin. The current exhibition at Munich's Neue Pinakothek museum, "Radically Simple," pays tribute to the 52-year-old's extraordinary talent among today's architects.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
Beyond song at the opera village
The interdisciplinary opera village project in Burkina Faso was the vision of performance artist and director Christoph Schlingensief before he died of cancer in 2010. Kéré built the intercultural center near the capital city of Ouagadougou. Pictured is the health clinic at the facility.
Image: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
A temple of architecture
The architecture museum of the Technical University in Munich is housed in the Pinakothek der Moderne. The differences between this building and Kéré's designs couldn't be more drastic. He is a master of simplicity. "Radically Simple," an exhibition of his work, runs from November 17 2016 through February 26, 2017.
Image: Neue Pinakothek
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Architect Francis Kéré comes from Burkina Faso, but has made his home in Berlin since 2005. Now he has plans to transform an old airplane hangar at the Tempelhof airport ramp in Berlin - which stopped being used as an airport in 2008 - into a "temporary mobile theater."
It was the future director of Berlin's Volksbühne theater, Chris Dercon, who commissioned Kéré. Dercon, former head of London's Tate Modern and Munich's Haus der Kunst museum, is set to replace Frank Castorf, the iconic theater's head for the past 25 years, in 2017. The Belgian theater director's appointment to the position was met with skepticism over his qualifications: Dercon's background is in art rather than theater.
Francis Kéré has designed a number of schools made to resist the heat in Burkina FasoImage: Gran Horizonte Media/D. Schwartz
Kéré's project is indeed a mix of theater and architecture. He is planning a construction with a round, amphitheater-like stage with space for up to 1,000 people. While the stage will be positioned in the hangar, it will also be mobile so - like the airplanes at one time - it can be taken outside.
"The warning is there - Berlin doesn't work," said Kéré in reference to the never-ending construction of Berlin's newest BER airport. "But it will work with me," he promised.
Known for simplicity
In his home country of Burkina Faso, the architect has built schools. He is also known for his collaboration with the late German theater director Christoph Schlingensief on his so-called opera village.
Kéré's works are part of an exhibition starting Thursday at the Architecture Museum of Munich's Technical University, housed in the Pinakothek der Moderne. Titled "Radically Simple," the show runs through February 26, 2017.
The museum presents Kéré as an "extraordinary talent" who manages to combine his cultural roots with the training he received in Berlin.
Photographer and videographer Daniel Schartz has contributed impressive photos and videos of yet unpublished works to the exhibition, which offers a unique encounter with the oeuvre of Francis Kéré.
