Archinect - News

Richard Driehaus, Chicago philanthropist and Driehaus Prize sponsor, has died

2021-03-10T20:11:00-05:00

Richard Driehaus, the founder of Chicago’s Driehaus Capital Management and namesake of the Driehaus Museum and DePaul University’s Business School, died Tuesday, according to Driehaus Private Equity. He was 78.

Among his numerous charitable contributions, Driehaus was especially committed to the preservation of historical architecture. The Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame was established in 2003 to recognize living architects with significant contributions in the field of traditional and classical architecture. The German architect Sebastian Treese was announced last month as the 2021 recipient of the $200,000 annual prize.

In 2015, Driehaus received the Lifetime Achievement Award from AIA Chicago — the only non-architect in the award's history.

Blair Kamin, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning former architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, remembered Driehaus in a heartfelt tweet today, writing: "I am stunned, and deeply saddened, to read of the death of Chicago investor and philanthropist Richard Driehaus. Richard cared passionately about the built environment and manifested that passion with unparalleled generosity. He sponsored the Driehaus Prize for traditio...

Robert Adam awarded 15th Richard H. Driehaus Prize

2017-01-19T15:20:00-05:00

Robert Adam, founder of ADAM Architecture, has been named the recipient of the 15th Richard H. Driehaus Prize, an award given each year to an architect "whose work has had positive cultural, environmental and artistic impact in keeping with the highest ideals of classical architecture in contemporary society." Alongside a bronze miniature of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates, the award comes with a $200,000 prize.

“Robert Adam has made seminal and sustained contributions to his discipline by establishing a dialogue between the traditional and modern modes of architecture,” states Richard H. Driehaus, founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management LLC. “He has had tremendous success by experimenting with contemporary materials and methods within the context of local and regional traditions.”

Adam was educated at Westminster University and was a Rome Scholar in the early '70s. In 1977, he founded ADAM Architecture. In addition to his design...

Building Our Best Nature: Archinect Sessions One-to-One #8 with Scott Merrill, winner of this year's Driehaus Prize

2016-01-25T14:30:00-05:00

Scott Merrill, winner of this year’s Driehaus Prize for his work under his firm Merrill, Pastor & Colgan, studied economics before getting an MArch at Yale, and found inspiration early in his career from Vermont's vernacular architectures. He began practicing solo in Florida in 1990, and works at a range of scales, in a form true to what the Driehaus celebrates: traditional, classical architecture. The award, started in 2003 by the architecture school at Notre Dame, celebrates (and gives $200,000 to) an architect whose work “embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact.”

Scott spoke with me about what the prize means to him, and his view of architecture as primarily about serving our human nature, not fulfilling a formal agenda.

Listen to One-to-One #8 with Scott Merrill:

iTunes: Click here to listen and subscribe to the new "Archinect Sessions One-to-One" podcast
SoundC...

Scott Merrill wins the 2016 Driehaus Prize

2016-01-20T14:29:00-05:00

Scott Merrill, an architect known for his originality and creative application of architectural precedents, has been named the recipient of the 2016 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Merrill, the 14th Driehaus Prize laureate, will be awarded the $200,000 prize and a bronze miniature of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates during a ceremony on March 19 (Saturday) in Chicago.

Scott Merril, the founder and principal designer of Merrill, Pastor & Colgan in Vero Beach Florida, has been awarded the 2016 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame.

Now in it's 14th year, the Driehaus Prize is something like an alternative Pritzker awarded to "a living architect whose work embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact."

Initiated by the fund manager and philanthropist Richard Driehaus, the Prize comes with a $200,000 check – about double the amount awarded with the Pritzker.

"The jury’s selection of Scott Merrill as the 2016 Driehaus Prize laureate brings into focus his remarkable ability to apply the principles of traditional architecture to a wide variety of building types while integrating unique regional identities,” Driehaus stated in the award announcement. “His work beautifully demonstrates the inherent versatility of tradition...

David M. Schwarz named as 2015 Driehaus Prize recipient

2015-01-14T20:39:00-05:00

Architect David M. Schwarz, CEO and president of David M. Schwarz Architects, has won the 2015 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Established in 2003, the $200,000 prize honors a living architect's lifetime contributions considered to embody positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact, and also upholds high standards of classical architecture in contemporary society.

Upon Schwarz's selection, the jury highlighted the humanistic and community-driven focus of his designs that have remained since his firm was established in 1976:

"Schwarz approaches design with a belief in humanism that emphasizes pedestrian-friendly and socially active architecture with the goal of enabling civility and productivity in urban environments. He believes in building spaces for people, paying careful attention to issues of scale and material. His historically informed designs create lively public environments that meet the needs of diverse audiences.

Emphasizing that good des...

Thomas H. Beeby Named 2013 Driehaus Prize Laureate

2012-12-18T14:36:00-05:00

American architect Thomas H. Beeby has been named the recipient of the 2013 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Beeby has designed an array of cultural, academic, religious, residential, and commercial buildings.

Michael Graves named 2012 Driehaus Prize laureate

2011-12-14T15:16:00-05:00

American architect Michael Graves has been named the recipient of the 2012 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Winner of the university's 2012 Henry Hope Reed Award is writer and landscape preservationist Elizabeth Barlow Rogers.