In a first, an African wins 'Nobel of architecture'. click to know his name

Diébédo Francis Kéré, a Burkina Faso-born architect, has become the first African to win the coveted Pritzker Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize of architecture.

His renowned work, which includes both permanent and temporary structures, has been erected not only in his native nation, but also in Africa, Europe, and the United States.

Mr Kéré, 56, described himself as the "happiest guy on the planet" after receiving what is considered architecture's most prestigious accolade.

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But, with limited prospects in his village, his decades-long path to the top of his field was far from easy.

"I grew up in a community where there was no kindergarten, but where the community was your family. I remember the room where my grandmother would sit and tell stories with a little light, while we would huddle close to each other and her voice inside the room enclosed us, summoning us to come closer and form a safe place. This was my first sense of architecture, "Kéré said, per the Pritzker Prize biography.

Pritzker Prize committee chair Tom Pritzker said in a statement that Kéré's buildings "demonstrate beauty, modesty, boldness, and invention."

Mr Kéré was jammed into a sweltering classroom with more than 100 other kids when he was seven years old.

As the first child in his town to attend school, his early memories of terrible building conditions inspired him to use architecture to enhance the educational lives of Burkina Faso's youngsters.

In 2004, the first structure he created, a primary school in his hometown, received the prestigious Aga Kahn Award for Architecture.

His ground-breaking approach was to return to old procedures.

Instead of using concrete, a common yet expensive building material in Burkina Faso, Kere used local resources to construct classrooms out of clay.

(With inputs from agencies)