Sudjic grew up in
Acton, London; his Serbian parents, who were immigrants from
Yugoslavia, spoke
Serbo-Croatian at home. His parents "lived the high life" after the
Second World War, his father, Misha, working as foreign correspondent for
Tanjug, the Yugoslav state news agency, then for a time, in less comfortable circumstances, as a bulletin-writer for the
BBC World Service, also "working away sporadically on ill-fated plans to make a fortune" including selling non-stick frying pans, holiday lets, and DIY. He was later employed by a travel company taking tourists to Yugoslavia, then relocated to
Sveti Stefan, working at a hotel on the
Adriatic Sea until he was hospitalized for alcoholism; brought back to the UK by his family, he finally worked as a security guard in a
Kirkcaldy shopping centre. Sudjic's mother, Seja, took jobs teaching, translating Serbo-Croatian, and in the homeware department at
Harrods. Sudjic was educated at
Latymer Upper School, at the time a
direct grant grammar school, based in
Hammersmith in West London. He attended the
University of Edinburgh. Sudjic was the design and architecture critic for
The Observer, the Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at
Kingston University, visiting professor at the Royal College of Art, and co-chair of the
Urban Age Advisory Board. He was the director of
Glasgow's UK City of Architecture and Design program in 1999, and the director of the
Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002. Sudjic became director of the Design Museum in 2006. Sudjic has contributed to
The Guardian, the
London Review of Books, and other publications. ==Honours==