Richard Morris Hunt Prize

The Richard Morris Hunt Prize is an intensive and curated six-month fellowship, divisible in two or three periods, that carries a $20,000 award for registered architects to pursue cutting-edge research on emerging trends in historic preservation. As part of the RMHP experience, the Fellow benefits from guidance and access to a network of the leading historic preservation professionals in France and the United States.

The Richard Morris Hunt Prize (RMHP) has been fostering and supporting cross-cultural professional exchange between France and the United States since 1990. U.S. design professionals study in France, and French design professionals study in the U.S. during alternating years.

In years where the applicant pool demonstrates exceptional merit, the runner-up receives a $5,000 scholarship for a shorter five-week specialized course of research and study.

The travel and research program for the American honorees will be guided by the managing team in France. The Fellow must submit a final report within one year of the last month of the Fellowship; the Scholar within six months. The reports must respond to the laureate’s research topic regarding an emerging trend in historic preservation.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

Be U.S. citizens or permanent residents
Be registered architects with 5+ years of work experience
Have a minimum of professional working proficiency speaking skills in French
Have the ability to travel to France for six months, spread across two or three periods.

Application process

Applications for the 2023 cycle are currently under review. Please sign up for news about the next application opening.

Review of Applications

At the close of the application period, Architects Foundation will review applications. Selected finalists will be asked to submit a more detailed written proposal, letters of support, and their portfolio. These finalists will be invited to interview with the RMHP Grand Jury in Washington, DC.

For examples of final reports from past laureates, visit https://rmhprize.org/en/final-reports

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About Richard Morris Hunt, FAIA

The Richard Morris Hunt Prize honors the memory of the first American architect to graduate from Paris’s Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Richard Morris Hunt introduced the Beaux-Arts style in the United States and was a central figure in the “City Beautiful” movement. Hunt was among the group of thirteen architects who founded The American Institute of Architects in 1857, and was AIA’s third president.