Léon Krier
Inaugural Driehaus Prize Laureate
Léon Krier is an architect, architectural theorist, and urban planner and the inaugural laureate of the Driehaus Prize. He served as the master-plan consultant for Seaside, Florida, the first New Urbanist community, and later designed the master plan for Poundbury, the New Urbanist community outside Dorchester, England. Mr. Krier is a renowned urban planner and classical architect who designs on the principles of sustainability, traditional form, and accessibility. Mr. Krier believes architecture should not be left to architects alone. He says the world is paying a high price for abandoning architecture to the whims of experts, forsaking a healthy urban effect through the creation of viable communities in favor of fleeting fashion. His views have inspired many notable people—architecture professionals and amateurs alike—to pursue a better built environment. Mr. Krier has taught architecture and town planning at the Royal College of Arts, London; Princeton University; the University of Virginia and Yale University. He is a founding trustee of the New School for Traditional Architecture & Urbanism in Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Krier’s honors include the Jefferson Memorial Gold Medal; the Berlin Prize for Architecture; the Chicago American Institute of Architects Award; and the European Culture Prize. The author of several books, Mr. Krier’s Architecture: Choice or Fate was awarded the Silver Medal of the Académie Française.
Joining the jury for the selection of the 2022 Henry Hope Reed Award winner after recusing himself from the Driehaus Prize selection due to his brother's nomination.