[5] The Driehaus Prize is awarded to a living architect whose work embodies the principles of traditional and classical architecture and urbanism in contemporary society, and reflects what the jury considers positive cultural, environmental and artistic impacts.

The award jury annually selects an architect who has greatly influenced the field of traditional and classical architecture.

[7] The jury has included notable architects and educators such as Adele Chatfield-Taylor (since 2004, President Emerita of the American Academy in Rome), Robert S. Davis (since 2009, developer and co-founder of Seaside, Florida), Paul Goldberger (since 2006, former architecture critic for The New Yorker), Léon Krier (since 2005, inaugural Driehaus Prize recipient), Witold Rybczynski (since 2011, architecture critic and professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania),[8] Demetri Porphyrios (since 2013, is a Greek architect and author who practices architecture in London as principal of the firm Porphyrios Associates),[9] and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (since 2017, founder of DPZ).

Driehaus collaborated with Lykoudis, who organized and chaired the jury, to recognize those practitioners and scholars who made seminal contributions to modern traditional architecture and urbanism.

Dreihaus chose to work with the University of Notre Dame because of its reputation as a national leader in incorporating the ideals of traditional and classical architecture into the task of modern urban development.