David M. Schwarz, an architect known for excellence in traditional design and his commitment to the creation of vibrant public environments, will receive the 2015 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame on Saturday, March 21 at the John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium in Chicago.
“Celebrating those who make substantive contributions to classical architecture in the modern world is essential to expanding the ideals of traditional and sustainable urbanism in contemporary life,” said Richard H. Driehaus, founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management LLC. “Therefore I am pleased with the selection of David Schwarz as the 2015 Richard H. Driehaus Prize laureate. His work has demonstrated how architecture can contribute to the creation of dynamic and strong communities.”
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.
“David Schwarz has succeeded in establishing a renewed and spirited dialogue about the nature of architecture and urbanism in the post-war period,” said Michael Lykoudis, Driehaus Prize jury chair and Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture. “He has woven traditional principles with modernity throughout various scales and building types that characterize our contemporary world. His approach to significant commercial and institutional buildings as well as urban design indicates his sensitivity to how buildings’ characters contribute to a sense of place. His firm’s designs for large buildings usually thought of as the domain of engineers — such as sports arenas and stadiums — illustrate how classical, traditional and modern languages of architecture can be used to re-imagine the scale of these very large structures and successfully connect them to their communities.”
Schwarz is president and CEO of David M. Schwarz Architects Inc., which he founded in 1976 in Washington, D.C. He received his bachelor's degree from St. John’s College in Maryland and a master of architecture from Yale University. He currently serves as chairman of the Yale School of Architecture Dean’s Council.
The Richard H. Driehaus Prize was established in 2003 to honor the lifetime contributions to traditional, classical and sustainable architecture and urbanism in the modern world. The prize is awarded annually to a living architect whose work creates a positive cultural, environmental and artistic impact in keeping with the highest ideals of classical architecture in contemporary society.
For more information about the Driehaus Prize, please visit DriehausPrize.org.
Contact: Mary Beth Zachariades, School of Architecture, 574-631-5720, mb.zachariades@nd.edu