How to write about cities with Oliver Wainwright

Learn how to craft powerful stories about urban areas and the forces that shape them – and pitch them to editors

From blockbuster buildings to the politics of gentrification, the urban environment offers a wealth of thought-provoking stories for journalists, academics and campaigners. An expert panel including Guardian architecture and design critic Oliver Wainwright, author and journalist Owen Hatherley, and Guardian Cities editor Mike Herd present this guide to writing engaging and politically-charged articles about cities.

You'll learn professional techniques for writing critically about architecture, as well as how to source and flesh out stories by speaking to key stakeholders, such as architects, developers and communities. You'll also learn how to shape a story for a mainstream audience, and how to communicate your opinions when pitching articles to commissioning editors.

Most importantly, you'll find out how to read the streets, and cultivate a more curious and critical viewpoint that will enable you to spot stories in your everyday environment. All cities – from Bristol to Beijing – offer one of the most fascinating ways of interpreting political and social history. This course will show you how to see the city politically, and give you the confidence to start pitching your story ideas to editors.

This course is for you if...

• You're a blogger or journalist interested in writing stories about buildings, urban spaces and/or communities
• You're an academic or student in the social sciences or humanities who wants to learn how to get your ideas heard by a wider audience
• You're a campaigner, activist or member of a community group who wants to learn how to get coverage for your ideas or cause
• You're passionate about architecture, and want an insight into how top urban writers work

Course description

This large-scale evening seminar features tips from two of the UK's top architecture and urbanisation writers, and an experienced Guardian editor. You'll learn techniques for observing, contextualising and documenting cities, as well as how to pitch your ideas to editors. Topics covered include:

• How to write about a new building or urban development project
• Who to interview – including developers, architects, planners and residents – and how to get hold of them
• Where to find out about forthcoming projects and imminent plans
• How to read a building and what elements of the project to consider (both physical and intangible)
• The economic, political, cultural and social forces that shape a development – and why these matter
• How to read city streets, by walking and 'drifting'
• Urban politics: how to see the city politically
• How to craft a story for a wide audience
• How to pitch to editors

Tutor profiles

Oliver Wainwright is the Guardian's architecture and design critic. Trained as an architect, he has worked for a number of practices, both in the UK and overseas, and written extensively on architecture and design for many publications, including Newsweek, The Times, Frieze and The Architects' Journal. He is also a visiting critic at several architecture schools. Read Oliver's Guardian articles here.

Owen Hatherley is a journalist and author, whose books include Militant Modernism, A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain and A New Kind of Bleak. As well as the Guardian, Owen has written about architecture for Dezeen, Icon, Building Design, New Statesman, Socialist Review and Socialist Worker. Read Owen's Guardian articles here.

Mike Herd is editor of the Guardian Cities website. He was previously assistant G1 editor. Guardian Cities was launched in 2014 to create a fresh and engaging hub for reporting and discussing urban life and the future of cities around the world. The site hosts opinion and analysis from a range of voices across the globe, along with news, graphics and data, and is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website