Carmen Corneil was born 19 December 1933 in Niagara Falls, New York. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Toronto in 1957. Following graduation, Carmen travelled to Europe and worked in the studio of renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto from 1958 to 1959. While working for Aalto, Carmen met Norwegian architecture student Elin Kirksæther, who was working for Aalto on a student scholarship. The couple married in 1959. Carmen and Elin Corneil moved to Toronto in 1960 and established their Toronto-based architecture practice Carmen Corneil / Architect. Carmen worked in the office of William J. McBain & Associates from 1960 to 1962, and the partners were briefly based out of Niagara, Ontario. From 1967 to 1996 Carmen taught at the University of Toronto department of architecture. Carmen also taught and lectured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Town and Regional Planning Institute (NTH), Trondheim, Norway. Carmen and Elin Corneil have four children. They reside and practice in Trondheim, Norway.

Elin Corneil (née Kirksæther) was born 23 July 1935 in Trondheim, Norway. She graduated from the department of architecture at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim in 1962. Elin interned in the studio of Finnish modernist architect Alvar Aalto. While working for Aalto on a student scholarship, Elin met Carmen Corneil, a Canadian architect. The couple married in 1959. Elin and Carmen Corneil moved to Toronto in 1960 and established their Canadian architecture practice Carmen Corneil / Architect. In 1962 Elin established the Corneils’ Trondheim-based practice. Elin taught at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, the Faculty of Architecture at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the Ontario College of Art and Design. She also lectured at the University of Toronto and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Architecture. Elin and Carmen Corneil have four children. They reside and practice in Trondheim, Norway.

Carmen and Elin Corneil established their architectural practice in Toronto, Ontario (Carmen Corneil / Architect, OAA 1960) and in Trondheim, Norway (Elin Corneil, Sivilarkiteckt, 1962). From the early 1960s to 1990s the Corneils’ partnership was based in both Toronto and Trondheim, and solely Trondheim from 1996 when the Toronto studio was closed. Notable projects by Carmen and Elin Corneil include Massey College Competition, Carleton School of Architecture, Wayland Drew House, Expo 67 Bandshells, Girl Guides of Canada Headquarters, Vestmannaeyjar Plan and Municipal Works Projects, McMullen Cottage, and OPSEU Headquarters. Major awards include a Massey Medal for Architecture for the Wayland Drew House in 1967 and a Governor General’s Medal in Architecture for the Offices for OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union) in 1992.