Rowan Moore is an

architecture critic Architecture criticism is the critique of architecture. Everyday criticism relates to published or broadcast critiques of buildings, whether completed or not, both in terms of news and other criteria. In many cases, criticism amounts to an assessmen ...

. Rowan William Gillachrist Moore was born on 22 March 1961. His brother is the journalist, newspaper editor and

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's official biographer Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham, and his grandfather was the second Baronet Moore, Sir Alan Hilary Moore. Rowan Moore's parents were Ann (nee Miles), who was a county councillor for the Liberal Party in Sussex, and Richard Moore, who was a leader writer for the national newspaper the News Chronicle and political secretary to the leader of the Liberal Party. He unsuccessfully stood for a seat as a Liberal Party MP at several general elections. Rowan Moore was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he studied architecture. After briefly practising, he turned to journalism. He was editor of the architecture journal ''

Blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

'', architecture editor of ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' (London) and also wrote for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

.'' In 2002 Moore succeeded Lucy Musgrave as director of the

Architecture Foundation Founded in 1991, The Architecture Foundation is Britain's oldest independent architecture centre. It examines contemporary issues in architectural theory and practice, through a public programme that has involved exhibitions, competitions publicatio ...

and resigned in 2008 amid speculation that the failure of a commission for

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

to design new headquarters for the institution had left "everyone disappointed and angry". Thereafter Moore concentrated on journalism and was appointed to the post of architecture critic of

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

in February 2010. He was named critic of the year in the 2014 British Press Awards.

Selected works

* ''Panoramas of London'' (1993) * ''Struktur, Raum Und Haut'' (1995) * ''The New Art Gallery Walsall'' (2000) * ''Building Tate Modern: Herzog & De Meuron'' (2000) * ''Why We Build'' (2012) * ''Anatomy of a Building'' (2014) * ''Slow Burn City: London in the Twenty-First Century'' (2016)

References

External links

Sudjic, Deyan. "Britain needs to see stars," ''The Guardian'' (16 June 2002).Rowan Moore , The Guardian
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British male journalists Architecture critics 20th-century British architects British writers {{UK-journalist-stub