Paul Finch is programme director of the World Architecture Festival and editorial director of the Architectural Review and Architects’ Journal.

Born London in 1949 he took a history degree at Selwyn College, Cambridge, before going into journalism. He was deputy editor of Estates Times (now Property Week), 1976-1983; editor of Building Design, 1983-94; editor of the Architects’ Journal, 1994-1999, and editor of The Architectural Review 2005-2009.

He was a commissioner and deputy chair at the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, 1999-2005, and chair, 2009-2011. He chaired Cabe’s Olympic Design Review panel from 2006-2012. He has been joint editor of Planning in London since 1992.

He received an honorary FRIBA in 1994; an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster, 2004; and an honorary fellowship from University College London, 2006. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland; an honorary member of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales; and an honorary member of the British Council for Offices. He was awarded an OBE for services to architecture in 2002.