Architecture Addiction, The Official Blog of

You know what? I like you. So even though I already gave you the Best Article I’ve Read in 48 Hours to counter the string of Bad News in The Official Bad News Blog Post, I’m giving you another positive, upbeat, let’s-hold-hands feel-good article. Just for you. (The absurdly-long title is also just for you.)

This one comes to us from Architectural Record.

Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the recipients of the sixth annual Richard H. Driehaus Prize for Classical Architecture, plan to take their $200,000 honorarium and invest it—not in stocks or bonds, but in the future of urbanism and the environment. At their acceptance speeches made during the awards ceremony in Chicago on March 29, 2008, the husband and wife team pledged to donate their winnings to a nonprofit research center for the publication of books related to New Urbanism and classical architecture. Richard Driehaus, the Chicago-based investor and philanthropist who sponsors the prize, said he would match their gift, for a total donation of $400,000.

The Driehaus Prize recognizes achievement in the pursuit of traditional, classical, and sustainable architecture and urbanism. Duany and Plater-Zyberk have been dubbed the “parents of New Urbanism.” In addition to maintaining an active Miami-based practice, they co-founded the Congress for New Urbanism, a committee that advocates for the creation of walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. Duany, now an emeritus board member, says that the group’s charter is currently under debate as the congress considers how to address climate change. He believes that by persuading the suburban middle class to incorporate the fundamental principles of New Urbanism—using natural ventilation and other low-tech green solutions in houses, for instance, and designing neighborhoods that rely less on automobile transportation—architects can make a positive difference.

Read the whole thing. and then go have some pie. You deserve it.