A+u 22:05, 620

a+u's May issue features Francis K r , a Berlin-based architect originally from the West African nation of Burkina Faso. His earliest work, Gando Primary School, demonstrated a design process that embraces the cultural and material roots of a place and its people, and as the Gando project expanded in scope to include other social amenities, K r 's architecture became a tool of community building and empowerment. This architecture of humanism relies on the metaphor of the palaver tree, under which a community gathers and knowledge is formed and transmitted. K r enriches local, basic materials and traditional know-how with thoughtful and forward-looking technological and ecological concepts, creating a sustainable, low-cost, and high-performance architecture that serves as a model for the Global South. Opening with Gando Primary School and ending with ongoing construction projects, furniture pieces, and exhibitions, this monograph presents 34 works. In addition to texts by K r and guest editor Andres Lepik, 3 essays by younger architects of African origins situate K r 's work in the broader context of architecture and urbanization in the African continent, invoking issues of translatability, authenticity, justice, community, and empowerment. Text in English and Japanese.