Writing and research

Robert writes internationally about architecture, cities, heritage and cultural travel. He is the architecture critic for the London Evening Standard.

He has previously been editor of Building Design and the architecture critic for two other daily newspapers The Australian and the Australian Financial Review. He has written for design, art and travel magazines around the world as well as for national bodies such as Historic England.

"Passionate, original…he writes with powerful eloquence.”

Neil Ascherson – author

Robert is the author of essays and books including The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War (2006/2015) and is a member of (ICOMOS), the body that advises UNESCO on world heritage. He has qualifications in architecture, planning, urban design and journalism, and experience in both news and features. 

For Robert Bevan, it is all about having a strong sense of place; this is what connects his work as a writer, architectural historian and consultant. He can critique a city’s newest architecture, research its history, reveal its symbolic meaning or set out its appeal to today’s cultural traveller.

Among the many other titles Robert has written for are: Guardian, Times, Sunday Times, Observer magazineSydney Morning Herald, The EconomistArt NewspaperArchitectural Review, and Wallpaper*/Wallpaper* City Guides.

Articles

More articles

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  • Architecture
  • Cultural Travel
  • Heritage
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A tale of two towers

London's towers compared for the launch of the Architects' Journal Skyline campaign
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WOHA

Singapore finest. WOHA profiled in The Australian's Wish magazine. (more…)
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Marseille

Vogue Living on the 2013 European Capital of Culture.
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Is art worth a life?

The story behind the film. For The Times of London
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Cycling Copenhagen

How Denmark's capital made the sustainable stylish. From The Australian's Wish supplement
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Cairo the victorious

The city's ancient centre is as fascinating as the pyramids at its edge.
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Iconoclasm as genocide warning

Attacks on buildings conveying cultural identity can be a warning of incipient ethnic cleansing or genocide. (more…)
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Lyon heart

Lyon has many wonders but a few blunders too.
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Venice Biennale 2012

Architecture's new mood. For The Australian newspaper.
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Walking Wales

How to convince an Australian that Britain has beaches worth a look.
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BIG profile

Denmark's hottest architectural export profiled in the Evening Standard.
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Brooklyn’s design scene

America's fourth largest city has become the hipster heart of art and design.
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Tasmania’s cheekiest devil

MONA is part of the reinvention of Tasmania as a cultural and foodie destination. The Observer Magazine.
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Target Heritage

From Mali to Bangladesh and beyond, ideology is making a target of cultural heritage.
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Heritage and human rights

Why it is vital to link the two. Op Ed for the Evening Standard.
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Bushfire House

You dont have to build concrete bunkers to balance risk and fire safety.
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House for Essex

First look inside Grayson Perry and FAT's fantasia.
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Heritage Journalism

Journalism about historic architecture and places and issues relating to material culture, including looting and provenance and human rights, is a consistent element of Robert Bevan's heritage advocacy.
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Spanish netherlands

Cruz y Ortiz's remodelling of the Rijksmuseum has many qualities but has it solved the museum's basic problems?
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New intelligence

Architecture in the post parametric age for Intelligent Life
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Thomas Heatherwick

The inventor behind the Olympic torch.
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Bubbling under

Snorkelling for beginners on the great, great, Great Barrier Reef.
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9/11 Memorial

High finance and low politics undermines commemoration at Ground Zero.
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All that is solid melts

The Louvre in Lens brings a shine to a former spoil tip in northern France
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Caruso St John

Tuesday 29 September 2015 The practice profiled on the opening of the Newport St Gallery
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Design scene: Copenhagen

An architectural travel guide to design central.
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Cultural Genocide

Why culture should be central to the definition of genocide.
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Me London

Can hi-tech architecture create the perfect hotel bedroom?
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Weimarana

Title: Weimarana Subtext: Does the new Bauhaus museum have unintended bite?
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North Bank South Bank

Australia's arts complexes under the spotlight.