 Stamp was educated at Dulwich College in South London from 1959 to 1967 as part of the "Dulwich Experiment", then at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he obtained a PhD in 1978 with a thesis entitled "George Gilbert Scott, junior, architect, 1839–1897".Stamp's career was one of largely independent journalism, writing, lecturing and polemic on architectural topics.Under the pseudonym "Piloti", he wrote the "Nooks & Corners" architecture criticism column in "Private Eye" from 1978 until his death.