In 2001, while still a student at Dano, Burkina Faso the Berlin Technical University, Diébédo Francis Kéré completed his first project: a small primary school in Gando, his native village in Burkina Faso. An exemplary piece of architecture, built in a poor country rife with illiteracy and unemployment, the Gando project earned Kéré a coveted Aga Khan Award in 2004 and helped put the young West African architect on the map.

Kéré now runs an eight-employee practice in Berlin and works worldwide. Designing sustainable buildings for Africa, however, remains his primary focus. His nonprofit organization, Schulbausteine für Gando, or School Building Blocks for Gando, helps raise money for his work. “My motto,” he says, “is help to self-help.”