Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
Oliver Wainwright is the architecture and design critic of the Guardian.
His writing examines the built environment in its broadest sense, focusing on the often invisible forces that shape our cities, interrogating the political, economic and social dynamics that drive urban change. Oliver trained as an architect at the University of Cambridge and the Royal College of Art and has worked in practice at a range of scales – from strategic planning in the mayor of London’s Architecture and Urbanism Unit, to international competitions at OMA in Rotterdam, and curatorial strategy at its sister think tank AMO, as well as public realm design at Muf Architecture/Art in London.
He has written extensively on architecture and urbanism for a wide range of publications, and has won awards for his in-depth investigations on the housing crisis and the planning system. He is a regular visiting critic and lecturer and has served as a curatorial adviser to the Architecture Foundation, and as a judge for the RIBA awards. His first book, Inside North Korea, was published by Taschen in 2018, and his photographs have been exhibited internationally, from the International Center for Photography in New York, to Seoul City Hall.
Oliver Wainwright is the architecture and design critic of the Guardian.
His writing examines the built environment in its broadest sense, focusing on the often invisible forces that shape our cities, interrogating the political, economic and social dynamics that drive urban change. Oliver trained as an architect at the University of Cambridge and the Royal College of Art and has worked in practice at a range of scales – from strategic planning in the mayor of London’s Architecture and Urbanism Unit, to international competitions at OMA in Rotterdam, and curatorial strategy at its sister think tank AMO, as well as public realm design at Muf Architecture/Art in London.
He has written extensively on architecture and urbanism for a wide range of publications, and has won awards for his in-depth investigations on the housing crisis and the planning system. He is a regular visiting critic and lecturer and has served as a curatorial adviser to the Architecture Foundation, and as a judge for the RIBA awards. His first book, Inside North Korea, was published by Taschen in 2018, and his photographs have been exhibited internationally, from the International Center for Photography in New York, to Seoul City Hall.
