Rowan William Gillachrist Moore (born 22 March 1961) is an architecture critic.

Biography

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 a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

'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 The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

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 MP at several general elections. Moore was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, 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 the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' and also wrote for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

.'' In 2002 Moore succeeded Lucy Musgrave as director of the Architecture Foundation and resigned in 2008 amid speculation that the failure of a commission for

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

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. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' in February 2010. He was named critic of the year at the 2014 British Press Awards. Following the 2024 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final, Moore wrote in praise of

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

, though also suggested it was "unexportable" and, were this not so, then it would be "a global sport". Rowan Moore married Molly Mulready, an immigration and asylum judge, and the daughter of Sally Mulready, at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 3 February 2024.

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) * '' Property: The myth that built the world '' (2023)

References

External links

Sudjic, Deyan. "Britain needs to see stars," ''The Guardian'' (16 June 2002).Rowan Moore , The Guardian
Living people Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British male journalists Architecture critics 20th-century British architects British writers 1961 births {{UK-journalist-stub