O'Donnell and Toomey, 60, are relatively young by the standards of the Life Contribution Awards, and their workshop O'Donnell + Tuomey was founded only in 1988. However, the jury emphasized that they managed to fulfill the set in the early 80s the challenge is to create a new identity for Irish architecture. Now, when Grafton (winners of the 2012 Venice Biennale "Silver Lion"), heneghan peng (winners of the largest architectural competition of the 2000s - for the project of the Great Egyptian Museum in Cairo) and other bureaus work alongside them, this task seems to be accomplished.
In the past decades, Sheila O'Donnell and John Toomey have not only designed, but also actively engaged in teaching, critical-theoretical and social activities, in particular, the "reanimation" of the Association of Irish Architects.
O'Donnell's style was defined by the jury as Terragni-inspired rationalism, while Toomey was described as a supporter of "constructivism" - however, their joint work is more of a "local" low-tech with attention to material, context, details.
O'Donnell + Tuomey's buildings have been nominated five times - a record to date - for the Sterling Prize, the UK's premier architectural award, but have not yet received one. Perhaps luck will smile at them
on the fifth try: this year their London School of Economics student center building was shortlisted.
O'Donnell and Toomey are the third married couple to jointly receive the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal, previously awarded to Charles and Ray Eames (1979) and Michael and Patricia Hopkins (1994).
