INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

With 54 official countries (plus 9 dependent and/or integrated territories, mostly on another continent) and about 17% of the entire world population, the African continent today encompasses hundreds of distinct ethnic groups, which speak more than two thousand languages, between African and non-African, in addition to dialects. Most probably, many other people existed before the historical events that marked Africa as a whole in the last five centuries. Firstly, the trafficking of black men, women, and children, enslaved from the 15th to the 19th century. The second moment to highlight was the Berlin Conference in 1885, which brought together European countries, the Ottoman Empire, and the United States to divide African territories between the powers, without, however, considering the existing separations based on the occupation of the various ethnic groups. Finally, the Decolonization of the African continent, already in the 20th century, generated several political and armed conflicts in the search for the independence of nations. These events, although they have a beginning and end dates, they did not end completely, that is, they reflect in the African territory and in other continents, such as the American, marked by slavery, especially in Brazil and the United States, which have the largest black population outside Africa and who are currently dealing with complex racial issues, in addition to the European continent itself, which has received in the last ten years and which continues to receive hundreds of thousands of immigrants, from Mediterranean Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, fleeing wars, armed and political conflicts and the poor quality of life they find in their countries.

As an applied social science, architecture and urbanism play the role of understanding political, economic, social, and cultural contexts, while promoting actions based on the needs and problems identified in society. Within the current context described, involving Africa and countries that share its history, architects and urbanists, for example, the Black Reconstruction Collective, from the United States, which also unites artists, designers, and academics, studies and debates the little-known black American architects, the reconstruction of the city in the search for the insertion of the black individuals in urban spaces, among other actions. In Brazil, the architect Gabriela de Matos created, in 2018, the ‘Arquitetas Negras’ project, which maps the production of these women architects and creates a network for hiring these professionals who, according to the 1st Gender Diagnosis in Architecture and Urbanism, developed by the Temporary Commission of Gender Equity at CAU/Brazil, in 2020, earn approximately 13 times less than white male architects. At the Federal University of Bahia - UFBA -, there is the research ‘Black architects and architects around the world: Mapping the black presence in the field of architecture, urbanism and urban planning’, coordinated by Professor Gabriela Leandro Pereira, which aims to “enable a database of references in which black architects and architects of different nationalities can be represented, places of training and performance, who stand out in different areas, to contribute to the construction of greater representation in the field (of architecture and urbanism)”, in addition to professor Fábio Velame, also from UFBA, who studies Afro-Brazilian architecture, vernacular and contemporary architecture in Africa.

To contribute to the field of research that involves contemporary architecture on the African continent and, aware of the diversity of architectural proposals that Africa encompasses in its immense physical and cultural dimension, it is proposed a specific analysis of the contribution of the Burkinabe architect Diébédo Francis Keré. Personally, it is intended to assimilate the use of his philosophy of life aligned with architecture - which is developed together with the community - to apply it in the exercise of the profession, as an architect and urban planner, according to the Brazilian context.

Throughout the first chapter, Francis Kéré’s life is presented, describing how his childhood in Gando and later his youth in Berlin will be responsible for shaping the way the architect understands the role of architecture and the power of collective work, especially in the execution of projects, for example, the Primary School of Gando, described in the work. Some completed works are mentioned, in addition to others in progress (according to the date of publication of this essay). As a basis for the development of this chapter, the book ‘Francis Kéré: Radically Simple’, by Andres Lepik (2016), excerpts and information from the interviews between architect Diébédo and journalist Pedro Bial (2021), and architect and urban planner Miguel Pinto Guimarães are used (2020), to Dezeen Magazine (2017), in addition to excerpts and information extracted from the ‘TED Talk’ lecture given by Francis (2013).

Before analyzing the 2017 Serpentine Pavilion by Diébédo, firstly, in the second chapter, an analysis of the term ‘pavilion’ is made, investigating the etymology of the word, as well as the evolution of architectural typology over the years, since the possible origin before the 16th century, through the Universal Exhibitions, to the proposal to display the Serpentine Pavilions by the Serpentine Gallery in the 20th and 21st centuries, listing the architects responsible for each pavilion implemented in Kensington Gardens to this date. The references used are the master’s thesis by Paola de Oliveira Jaekel, entitled ‘Pavilions and the essayistic field of architecture: the case of the Serpentine Gallery in London’ (2017), and the graduation work by Ana Paula Ribeiro de Santana Silva (2019) and information about the Serpentine Pavilions on the Serpentine Gallery’s official website.

Two perspectives guide the study of Francis Kéré Pavilion in the third chapter. The personal view of the author of this essay analyzes the implementation of the project, the structural, formal, and spatial solutions adopted by the architect, investigating the work directly, without the influence of the narrative created by Diébédo - the second look - in which is detailed why some design choices were made and how they are related to the theoretical and practical learning that he was able to acquire in the social and academic environment in which he lived and lives. The description of the architect’s gaze is based on the Architect’s Declaration written on the Serpentine Gallery’s official website, as well as Francis’ interview also given to the Gallery about the project. Finally, considerations will be made about the work developed.