© Provided by The GuardianPhotograph: Press Photos Ltd/REX/Shutterstock
So much of what we take for granted today in British lifestyle can be traced back to the influence of my dear departed friend, Terence Conran. Starting in the early 1950s, as a 22-year-old gourmet entrepreneur, he brought a European awareness to our shores, starting with French bread and onion soup, in his restaurant the Soup Kitchen, just off the Strand.
From then on, Terence was a tireless promoter of the benefits of good design, an approach that embraced the many different worlds that he touched as restaurateur, retailer, designer, developer, manufacturer, educator, writer and publisher.
As if all that was not enough, he created, through the Conran Foundation, a showcase for design in the Boilerhouse Gallery within the V&A, opening in 1981. This morphed into his London Design Museum in 1989, at Shad Thames near Tower Bridge, which moved in 2016 to its present location in the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington.
The lines between Terence's private and professional lives were wonderfully blurred. Over more than two decades, our family lives overlapped with his and Vicky, his wife's - from his country house Barton Court in Berkshire to his home in Provence and apartments in London. As a host, he could have been the chef in one of his restaurants, resplendent in a white apron - hospitable and generous. His appreciation of good food, wine, furniture, objects and buildings permeated his homes, workspaces, shops and restaurants alike.
© Provided by The GuardianTerence Conran and Norman Foster in 2016. Photograph: David M Benett/Getty Images
When you share values and interests, there is an expression of how someone "gets it". When we talked of a common love of cars - and the black Citroën Traction Avant was one of his favourites - his eyes would light up with a boyish enthusiasm. Terence, unspoken, simply "got it" about so many things in life. These, for me, are the treasured moments of our friendship - and especially seeing him savour the qualities of the best cigar, with its equivalent cognac or whisky. Most likely, this could have been preceded by his favourite food such as the freshest langoustines, heaped in a bowl with dollops of mayonnaise or a whole loup de mer on a platter. The conversations through these delights would reveal Terence as holding strong views and moral principles with great integrity.
© Photograph: Press Photos Ltd/REX/ShutterstockSir Terence Conran at his home, Barton Court, in Kintbury, Berkshire, 1988.
Everyone in the UK has been the beneficiary in some way, however indirectly, of his influence. Only those who knew Britain in the 1950s, when he appeared on the scene, will know the full depth of that influence.