Philippe Villeneuve
2026 Henry Hope Reed Award laureate
The Richard H. Driehaus prize jury members have named Philippe Villeneuve the next Henry Hope Reed laureate for his visionary leadership in the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris after a 2018 fire.
Villeneuve, who studied architecture at the École d’Architecture de Paris-Conflans, obtained his governmental architectural diploma in 1989 and later a diploma from the École de Chaillot. In 1997, he passed the “Thèse de Concours” to become chief architect for historical monuments in France. He has worked on restoration projects including the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre d’Angoulême, the chevet and north portal of Limoges Cathedral, and the Hôtel de Ville in La Rochelle.
“Villeneuve’s crowning achievement has been in bringing the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris from the brink of collapse to its rightful place as the most significant building in France and one of the most recognizable in the world,” Polyzoides said. “Thanks to Villeneuve, the iconic cathedral — an edifice expressing the spiritual essence, technical prowess and proud identity of the French nation across the centuries — was reconstructed in accordance with its original 12th century form.”
Villeneuve engaged hundreds of architects, engineers, designers and craftspeople from all over France and looked to the original sources of materials to rebuild the building. His expansive team combined traditional and cutting-edge construction techniques in tandem to execute the reconstruction in record time.
The jury cited Villeneuve’s leadership in advocating that Notre-Dame de Paris be rebuilt in its original construction methods and returned to its original form.
“Challenging the preservation protocols in place and the high-tech visions of popular architects, Villeneuve argued instead that historic buildings possess physical integrity, community values and symbolic meaning. He had the courage to take his case to French President Emmanuel Macron to explain his viewpoints, thereby convincing the president despite strong opposition,” the jury citation reads.