Historical Figure
I. M. Pei
1917–2019
Chinese-American architect (1917–2019)
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Biography
Ieoh Ming Pei was a Chinese-American architect. Born in Guangzhou into a Chinese family, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, but quickly transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Unhappy with the focus on Beaux-Arts architecture at both schools, he spent his free time researching emerging architects, especially Le Corbusier.
Timeline
The story of I. M. Pei, told in moments.
Born Ieoh Ming Pei in Guangzhou. His father was a prominent banker. He watched a 26-story hotel go up in Shanghai as a teenager and decided to study architecture in America.
Jacqueline Kennedy selected him to design the JFK Presidential Library. He was 47 and relatively unknown. She picked him over more established architects because she liked his quiet confidence.
Completed the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Sharp triangular forms in marble and glass. The building itself became the main exhibit.
The Louvre Pyramid opened in Paris. The French hated it before it was built. Glass and steel in a Renaissance courtyard. Mitterrand backed him against the outrage. Within a year, it was beloved.
Designed the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar at age 89. He traveled through the Muslim world for six months studying light and geometry. The building floats on its own artificial island.
In Their Own Words (3)
For me the important distinction is between a stylistic approach to the design; and an analytical approach giving the process of due consideration to time, place, and purpose ... My analytical approach requires a full understanding of the three essential elements ... to arrive at an ideal balance among them.
As quoted in Conversations with I. M. Pei : Light Is the Key (2000) by Gero von Boehm, p. 113, 2000
Architects by design investigate the play of volumes in light, explore the mysteries of movement in space, examine the measure that is scale and proportion, and above all, they search for that special quality that is the spirit of the place as no building exists alone. The practice of architecture is a collective enterprise, with many individuals of various disciplines and talents working closely together. And from the commissioning to the completion of a project, there are also the many individuals for whom architects work, whose contribution to quality is frequently as crucial as that of the architect. So I accept this prize for all who have worked with me in this unique undertaking. Let us all be attentive to new ideas, to advancing means, to dawning needs, to impetuses of change so that we may achieve, beyond architectural originality, a harmony of spirit in the service of man.
Acceptance speech for the The Pritzker Architecture Prize (16 May 1983), quoted in The Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983: Presented to Ieoh Ming Pei (1983), 1983
I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity. Freedom of expression, for me, consists in moving within a measured range that I assign to each of my undertakings. How instructive it is to remember Leonardo da Vinci's counsel that "strength is born of constraint and dies from freedom."
Acceptance speech for the The Pritzker Architecture Prize (16 May 1983), quoted in The Pritzker Architecture Prize, 1983: Presented to Ieoh Ming Pei (1983), 1983
Artifacts (15)
Not in the sense of most people. I'm atheist and Unitarian Universalist.
he became a parent, he became a Unitarian Universalist (UU). When asked whether he believes in God, he said: "Not in the sense of most people. I'm atheist and Unitarian Universalist." The web's source...
There you go, it seemed like a good idea at the time,
ssary". He told the newspaper that he easily could have designed web addresses without the slashes. "There you go, it seemed like a good idea at the time," he said in his lighthearted apology. Since...
Greater openness, accountability and transparency in Government will give people...
tion should be in the public domain unless there is a good reason not to—not the other way around." He added: "Greater openness, accountability and transparency in Government will give people greater...
The changes signal a wider cultural change in government based on an assumption ...
he created data.gov.uk alongside Nigel Shadbolt. Of the Ordnance Survey data in April 2010, Berners-Lee said: "The changes signal a wider cultural change in government based on an assumption that...
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