Design Like Francis Kéré
He built a school with his village.
The world gave him its top prize.
Learn community-powered design from the master who proved humble materials and shared labor can reach the very top of world architecture. Let his path expand what you believe possible.
Community hands will help raise what you design.
- Build with community — turning local hands into your workforce and voice.
- Elevate humble clay — making humble earth perform like the finest luxury material.
- Cool without power — designing real comfort from shadow, mass, and breeze alone.
- Lead from your roots — letting your origin become a strength instead of a limit.
- Prove less is possible — achieving world-class work far away from big budgets and cities.
- Inspire through building — creating architecture with the power to lift whole villages.
Built by one of the most-read architecture platforms in the world.
RTF | Rethinking The Future has spent over a decade publishing the ideas, projects and voices shaping architecture — and now brings that depth to learning. Every course is researched, written and produced by the RTF team.
Greatness can start anywhere. Including where you are.
A clear path. Seven steps.
Everything unlocks instantly with membership · learn at your own pace
If you see yourself here, start today.
A few hours from now, you could already see differently.
Great architecture, I thought, needed imported materials and big budgets. Kere's work with clay, community labor and climate proved the opposite with total clarity. My village school proposal now builds from what the site already offers.
Simple by design.
Watch
Short, focused video lessons — each one a single idea, clearly explained.
Apply
End every lesson with a small task that pushes your real project forward.
Transform
Watch your work develop a point of view that is unmistakably yours.
Answered simply.
Kéré builds with mud brick in Burkina Faso — how does that apply to my practice?
His real innovation is the process: engaging communities as builders, elevating local materials with engineering intelligence, and achieving climate performance with almost no budget. Every one of those transfers.
Is this course about humanitarian work only?
No. Kéré's principles now shape major cultural commissions worldwide, showing that community-rooted design is a complete architectural philosophy, not a niche.
Will it change how I think about sustainability?
Likely yes. Kéré demonstrates that the most sustainable architecture can come from local resources and social investment rather than expensive technology.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Every course starts from where you are and builds up step by step, in plain language.
Is this software training?
No — software changes yearly. The thinking you learn here lasts a career.
How does it work?
Short video lessons with a small practice task after each. Any device, your pace.
What does membership include?
One membership unlocks every course on RTF Academy — all 450+, nothing sold separately. And you stay in control: cancel anytime in one click, and you will never be charged again.
Ready to see your work change?
Your next project could be the one that feels truly yours.
- 7 Sections
- 25 Lessons
- 4 Hours
- Introduction to Francis Kéré3
- Principles of Kéré’s Design Philosophy4
- Materials, Structure & Local Craft4
- Iconic Projects & Design Lessons4
- Sustainability, Culture & Human Experience3
- Representation & Prototyping3
- Applying the Francis Kéré Approach4
Reviews
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Great architecture, I thought, needed imported materials and big budgets. Kere's work with clay, community labor and climate proved the opposite with total clarity. My village school proposal now builds from what the site already offers.
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