The Richard H. Driehaus Prize is awarded to a living architect whose work embodies the principles of traditional and classical architecture and urbanism in contemporary society, and creates a positive, long-lasting cultural, environmental and artistic impact. It is presented annually by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. The Henry Hope Reed Award is given in conjunction with the Driehaus Prize to an individual working outside the practice of architecture who has supported the cultivation of the traditional city, its architecture and art through writing, planning or promotion.

Richard H. Driehaus, the founder and chairman of Driehaus Capital Management in Chicago, established the award program in 2003 through Notre Dame because of its reputation as a national leader in incorporating the ideals of traditional and classical architecture into the task of modern urban development.

The 2009 Richard H. Driehaus Prize laureate is Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil, one of the leading voices in contemporary Islamic architecture and a practitioner known worldwide for his use of traditional form and technique. Over the past four decades, El-Wakil has built mosques, public buildings and private residences throughout the Middle East maintaining balance between continuance and change. His work—which includes the Halawa house in Agamy, Egypt, for which he won his first Aga Khan Award for Architecture; the residence of Ahmed Sulaiman in Jeddah; and the Quba Mosque in Medina—celebrates the overall principles of Islamic architecture and culture while reflecting the regional character and locality in which each structure resides. He works with traditional design principles that use indigenous materials and processes, and integrates them with contemporary technology to create familiar, functional and environmentally sustainable structures that are both timeless and for our time. 

Fabio Grementieri, Argentine scholar and preservationist, was honored with the 2009 Henry Hope Reed Award. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Grementieri has served as the project manager of some of Buenos Aires’ most delicate and culturally significant architectural preservation projects including: the Palacio Bosch (United States Embassy), the Errázuriz Palace (National Museum of Decorative Arts), the Pereda Palace (Brazilian Embassy), and Villa Ocampo (property of UNESCO). 

In 2008, the annual Driehaus Prize was doubled to a $200,000 unrestricted cash award and the Henry Hope Reed Award was doubled to $50,000. Together the two prizes represent the most significant recognition for classicism in the contemporary built environment. Recipients were selected by a jury comprised of Richard H. Driehaus (Founder and Chairman of Driehaus Capital Management), Michael Lykoudis (Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture), Paul Goldberger (Architecture Critic for The New Yorker), David M. Schwarz (President and CEO of David M. Schwarz Architects), Adele Chatfield-Taylor (President of the American Academy in Rome); Robert Davis (Principal at Arcadia Land Company and Founder of Seaside, Florida); and Léon Krier (architect, scholar and the inaugural Driehaus Prize Recipient).