Pier Carlo Bontempi to receive Richard H. Driehaus Prize from Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame School of Architecture announced today that architect Pier Carlo Bontempi will receive the 2014 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at a ceremony to be held on Saturday, March 29 at the John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium in Chicago.

Bontempi’s award-winning international work includes a block recovery plan in Parma’s historic center, as well as the Place de Toscane and the “Quartier du Lac” resort in Val d’Europe near Paris. His studio works on new traditional architecture and architectural projects including restoration, rebuilding and town planning. A native of Fornovo di Taro, Parma, Italy, Bontempi studied architecture at the University of Florence and has taught at Florence University, the École Spéciale d’Architecture of Paris, Syracuse University of New York in Florence, the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart and the Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture in London.

“Bontempi’s work illustrates why the idea of the traditional city and its architecture are referred to as ‘the original green,’” said Michael Lykoudis, Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the Notre Dame School of Architecture. “His buildings, seamlessly woven into their urban environments, demonstrate the principles of the new classicism and urbanism. Their durable construction, adaptive interior space and sensitive urban siting make them exemplars of architecture as an art of conservation and investment as opposed to consumption and waste.”

“Bontempi acquired his vast architectural knowledge and versatility by studying the rich fabric of Italy, the cities and landscapes he grew up in,” said Léon Krier, the inaugural Driehauslaureate. “The serenity, robustness, elegance and economy of his considerable built work provide exemplary models for better cities and buildings in the cities and towns of the future.”

Established in 2003 by the Notre Dame School of Architecture, the $200,000 Richard H. Driehaus Prize is 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. In keeping with the School of Architecture’s classical andurbanist curriculum, the prize provides a forum for celebrating and advancing the principles of the traditional city with an emphasis on sustainability. Previous recipients of the DriehausPrize include Thomas H. Beeby (2013), Michael Graves (2012), Robert A.M. Stern (2011) and Rafael Manzano Martos (2010).

“I am most pleased with the selection of Pier Carlo Bontempi as the 2014 Richard H. Driehaus Prize laureate,” said Richard H. Driehaus, founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management LLC. “His work has consistently responded to the unique qualities of historic environments as well as to the needs of modern society. Each project has achieved a nuanced balance between traditional principles and worldly cosmopolitanism, a quality lacking in today’s urban settings. His work is a reminder to all of us that great architecture possesses not only confidence and wonder, but that it is born of a humanistic impulse.”

This year’s Driehaus Prize jury was composed of Adele Chatfield-Taylor, president of the American Academy in Rome; Robert Davis, developer and founder of Seaside, Fla.; Paul Goldberger, contributing editor at Vanity Fair; Léon Krier, architect and urban planner; Demetri Porphyrios, principal of Porphyrios Associates; and Witold Rybczynski, Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania.

The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), and Laney College in Oakland California, a National Science Foundation-funded Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center, are collaborating to identify education and training needs and strategies for high-tech facility operators.

| Apr 18, 2013

SOM, CASE team up to launch crowd-sourced apps library

SOM and CASE have formally launched AEC-APPS, the first crowd-sourced, web-based library for applications used by architects, engineers and construction professionals. This is a one-of-a-kind initiative in the AEC Industry and is a non-profit online community that allows digital tool users and toolmakers to share ideas, tips and resources.

Ysios winery. Photo: Elena de las Heras / Alamy/Alamy

| Apr 18, 2013

Calatrava projects encounter issues with water, structure, Guardian says

A dozen years after Calatrava built the spectacular Ysios winery in the rainy Alava region of northern Spain, the building's dramatic, undulating roof continues to let in the damp.

| Apr 17, 2013

Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Avenue showroom demolished

New York loses another architectural gem by Frank Lloyd Wright as new owner razes auto showroom.

Currently Reading

Pier Carlo Bontempi to receive Richard H. Driehaus Prize from Notre Dame

Tags

| Apr 23, 2013

| Apr 23, 2013

| Apr 22, 2013

| Apr 22, 2013

| Apr 19, 2013

| Apr 19, 2013

| Apr 18, 2013

| Apr 18, 2013

| Apr 18, 2013

| Apr 17, 2013

Most Popular Content

Magazine Subscription

Get our Newsletters

Follow BD+C: