Edward (Ted) Cullinan is the first British architect to receive this award in six years, and only fourth in the last twenty. Unlike most of the winners of this one of the most prestigious architecture awards in the world, Callinan did not build anything outside his home country. But in the UK, his work has a lot of fans, and for several years it was expected that his achievements in the field of architecture would be awarded with the Gold Medal. RIBA President Sunand Prasad, who at one time worked in Callinan's workshop, is of the same opinion. Commenting on the decision to award the architect, he praised Ted Callinan's attention to the environment and the lively connection of his work with the needs, wishes and feelings of those who live, study and work in his buildings, or just pass them by every day. Prasad called his work "convincing and poetic." He also mentioned Callinan's wide pedagogical activity.
Ted Callinan's buildings are dominated by residential buildings of various sizes, visitor centers of open-air museums and educational buildings of various educational institutions. All of them are distinguished by a simple and at the same time expressive appearance and compliance with the needs of end customers - residents, students and teachers, tourists.
Notable examples of such buildings include the Fountain Abbey Visitor Center (1992), the Wild & Downland Museum Restoration Workshop (2002), the University of Cambridge Mathematical Sciences Center (2000), the University of East London campus (1999), the RMC headquarters in Surrey (1990).
It was also announced that the Jenks Prize for this year has been awarded to the Dutch workshop UN Studio. The award, established by renowned architectural theorist and historian Charles Jencks, is presented by RIBA for outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of world architecture.
