Alice Rawsthorn

Design Critic

Alice Rawsthorn is a British design critic and the author of critically acclaimed books on design, including Hello World: Where Design Meets Life and Design as an Attitude.

Born in Manchester, Rawsthorn graduated in art history from Cambridge University. From 1985 to 2001, she was an award-winning journalist for the Financial Times, working as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneering the FT's coverage of the creative industries. She was director of the Design Museum in London from 2001 until 2006, when she became design critic of the international edition of the New York Times. Rawsthorn also wrote a weekly design column for the New York Times for over a decade. Her columns were syndicated to other media worldwide.

An honorary senior fellow of the Royal College of Art with an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts, Rawsthorn is a member of the Honours Committee for Arts and Media. She is a founding member of the OECD's Future of Democracy Network and of Writers at Liberty, a group of writers who are committed to championing human rights and freedoms as supporters of the human rights charity Liberty. She has served on many cultural juries including: the Turner Prize for contemporary art; the Stirling Prize for architecture; the PEN History Book Prize; the Aga Khan Award for Architecture; the Buckminster Fuller Challenge; the Museum of the Year award; the Rome Prize for Architecture and Design; and the BAFTA film and television awards.

A trustee of Arts Council England from 2006 to 2013, Rawsthorn was previously ACE's lead advisor on the visual arts and chair of the Turning Point Review of the contemporary visual arts, which led to a record increase in public funding. She is a past chair of the British Council's Design Advisory Group, a former member of the Design Council and the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design. Rawsthorn was also chair of trustees of the Michael Clark Company, and a longstanding trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery.

Alice Rawsthorn is a British design critic and the author of critically acclaimed books on design, including Hello World: Where Design Meets Life and Design as an Attitude.

Born in Manchester, Rawsthorn graduated in art history from Cambridge University. From 1985 to 2001, she was an award-winning journalist for the Financial Times, working as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneering the FT's coverage of the creative industries. She was director of the Design Museum in London from 2001 until 2006, when she became design critic of the international edition of the New York Times. Rawsthorn also wrote a weekly design column for the New York Times for over a decade. Her columns were syndicated to other media worldwide.

An honorary senior fellow of the Royal College of Art with an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts, Rawsthorn is a member of the Honours Committee for Arts and Media. She is a founding member of the OECD's Future of Democracy Network and of Writers at Liberty, a group of writers who are committed to championing human rights and freedoms as supporters of the human rights charity Liberty. She has served on many cultural juries including: the Turner Prize for contemporary art; the Stirling Prize for architecture; the PEN History Book Prize; the Aga Khan Award for Architecture; the Buckminster Fuller Challenge; the Museum of the Year award; the Rome Prize for Architecture and Design; and the BAFTA film and television awards.

A trustee of Arts Council England from 2006 to 2013, Rawsthorn was previously ACE's lead advisor on the visual arts and chair of the Turning Point Review of the contemporary visual arts, which led to a record increase in public funding. She is a past chair of the British Council's Design Advisory Group, a former member of the Design Council and the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design. Rawsthorn was also chair of trustees of the Michael Clark Company, and a longstanding trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery.

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