2022 Jury Citation
2022 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame
In recognition of decades of exemplary architectural practice and scholarship, the 2022 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame is awarded to Rob Krier, architect, urbanist, theorist, painter, sculptor and educator. Krier’s importance to the classical tradition in architecture crosses many thresholds.
A native of Luxemburg, he first rose to international prominence with the publication of his seminal 1975 book ‘Stadtraum’, translated into English under the title ‘Urban Space’ in 1979, in which he advocated for an architecture that regenerates the public realm. In contrast to the work promoted by established architects at that time, Krier focused on architectural typology and place-making as a way of elevating architecture beyond the design of iconic lone objects. His writings and his works renewed appreciation for the design of housing as urban fabric and for the social benefits of the shaped figures of public space within that fabric. These have been for him and are now for all of us, the key ingredients for making durable and memorable urban quarters and cities.
Through his engagement with a variety of urban settings, clients and types of projects, Krier has generated a diverse oeuvre that is steeped in the particulars of specific places: always responsive to local cultures, built heritage, and environmental issues. His work as an artist drives the poetics of his architecture and urbanism. Design, painting, sculpture, architecture and urbanism become an intense, singular art form, capable of inspiring people to understand themselves as being profoundly rooted in their community and in the world.
Krier’s immense contribution to the discipline and profession of architecture has been further extended by through the publication of over twenty books, and through his decades as a professor at the Vienna University of Technology, in Austria.
This award recognizes Rob Krier’s work as distinct, powerful in the city, in tune with nature, and transforming of society in the present. It projects beauty that is both civic and personal, always addressing the fundamental question - how are works of design, architecture and urbanism to be endowed with lasting purpose and meaning?
2022 Henry Hope Reed Award
The 2022 Henry Hope Reed Award is presented to Wendell Berry, an American poet, novelist, cultural critic, environmental activist and farmer, for his contributions to the discourse about the relationship between nature and the city.
In architecture and urbanism there are two foundational dimensions – what do we build? and where do we build it? Over the years, humanity has increasingly encroached upon natural landscapes with little regard for the long-term urban and environmental impact. Berry has been a voice of conscience in advocating for the conservation of the miracle and the bounty that is nature, proposing a relationship between places and people that honors and protects both.
Through his many books of poetry, fiction and critical essays, Berry teaches that humanity must learn to live harmoniously with nature or both humanity and the world as we know it will cease to exist. The Driehaus Prize laureates demonstrate that it is possible to design buildings, cities and towns with an authentic connection to nature - places, both rural and urban, that enable humans and nature to flourish together. Berry’s words offer inspiration to architects to persist in the pursuit of these goals in design and in practice.
Berry not only addresses the issue of nature as a powerful force in the world, he also writes about how nature is accommodated into human life, through agriculture, horticulture and the general care of natural resources. His work makes clear the importance of caring for nature as an essential part of our culture and of our very humanity. In poetry and essays, not academic treatises, Berry’s sensitive and skillful writing is understandable and beautiful, and demonstrates his profound capacity for touching people’s hearts.
With his inspiring words, in a unique and compelling way, he is an advocate for the good health of land and people.