Patrick Russell writes: I met Gavin Stamp after an impassioned talk he gave to founder members of the Thirties Society (now the Twentieth Century Society), about the destruction of the art deco Firestone Tyre Factory in Brentford, west London, over the August bank holiday weekend in 1980. It seems likely that this was done in order to forestall the possibility of the building being listed. He certainly displayed the “anger, lucidity and compassion” that Ian Jack pointed to.
Jeremy Greenwood writes: I remember several Twentieth Century Society expeditions abroad with Gavin Stamp, always led with great speed – I got mislaid in Prague on one occasion.
Gavin was not very enthusiastic about Le Corbusier. Once we found ourselves alone in Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp, in eastern France. He quietly said: “I have to admit it’s a masterpiece.”
