I. M. Pei

The Louvre Pyramid, Paris

Ieoh Ming Pei (Chinese: 貝聿銘; pinyin: Bèi Yùmíng; b. April 26, 1917), commonly known by his initials I. M. Pei, is a Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese architect, known as the last master of high modernist architecture. He works with the abstract form, using stone, concrete, glass, and steel. Pei is one of the most successful architects of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Pei was born in Guangzhou, in the Guangdong province of China on April 26, 1917, to a prominent Suzhou family. His father, a prominent banker, was later the director of the Bank of China and the governor of the Central Bank of China. The family residence is now part of the World Heritage listed Classical Gardens of Suzhou. The house was called the Garden of the Lion Forest, and consisted of many rock sculptures carved naturally by water. Pei loved how the buildings and the nature were combined, and especially liked the way light and shadow mixed.

His first education was at Saint John's University, Shanghai and then at St. Paul's College, Hong Kong before moving to the United States to study architecture at the age of 18. He started at the University of Pennsylvania before going on to receive his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. That same year, he was awarded the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, the MIT Travelling Fellowship, and the AIA Gold Medal. He enrolled at the Harvard Graduate School of Design two years later; shortly thereafter, he served at the National Defense Research Committee in Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1944 he returned to Harvard, received his master degree in Architecture in 1946 and stayed at Harvard as an assistant professor. He received the Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship in 1951 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1954.^[1]

Career

Pei operated his own architectural firm, founded in 1955, which was known as I. M. Pei & Partners until 1989 when it became known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners recognizing James Ingo Freed and Henry N. Cobb.

Personal life

Pei has three sons: the late T'ing Chung Pei, Chien Chung (Didi) Pei, Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, and a daughter: Liane Pei. Chien Chung and Li Chung both have followed their father to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Chien Chung Pei helped his father design the Louvre addition from 1989 to 1993. Li Chung Pei helped his father design the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong in 1989. Both became architects practicing under their own firm, Pei Partnerships. Pei has helped out at the firm since his retirement from his own firm in 1990.^[2]

Project list

• 1954–1959 — Mile High Center, in Denver, Colorado, USA
• 1961–1967 — National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colorado, USA
• 1961 — Kips Bay Plaza, in New York, New York, USA [1]
• 1961 — Government Center Master Plan, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• 1962 — Place Ville-Marie, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 1962 — Kennedy Theatre, University of Hawaii, USA, Official web page
• 1962 — Hale Manoa Dormitory, East West Center, University of Hawaii, USA
• 1963 — Luce Memorial Chapel, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
• 1963 — Society Hill Towers – Philadelphia, PA, Unofficial website
• 1964 — Green Building, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 1964 — S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University — Syracuse, New York
• 1966–1968 — Sculpture Wing of the Des Moines Art Center in Des Moines, Iowa
  • Official page of Pei's Sculpture Wing
• 1966 — Silver Towers at New York University
• 1967 — Hoffman Hall at University of Southern California
• 1968–1972 — 50 FAA air traffic control towers, in various locations throughout the United States.
• 1968–1974 — Christian Science Center, in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1968 — Everson Museum of Art, in Syracuse, New York
• 1969 — Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, in Columbus, Indiana
• 1969 — Academic Center, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, New York
• 1970 — National Airlines terminal at JFK Airport in New York, New York
• 1971 — Harbor Towers, in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1972 — Governor's Residence Halls at SUNY Buffalo
• 1972 — Dallas, Texas City Hall
• 1972 — Paul Mellon Arts Center at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut
• 1972 — Pei Residence Halls at New College of Florida, Sarasota, Florida
• 1973 — Commerce Court West in Toronto, Ontario
• 1973 — Spelman Halls at Princeton University
• 1973 — Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York
• 1974–1978 — East Building, National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC^[3]
  • Official East Building project webpage
• 1975 — OCBC Centre in Singapore.
• 1975 — The Lamar Building Penthouse in Augusta, Georgia
• 1976 — John Hancock Tower, in Boston, Massachusetts — Pei gives Henry Cobb the credit for this building
• 1976 — University of Rochester's Wilson Commons
• 1978–1982 — Indiana University Art Museum in Bloomington, Indiana
• 1979 — John F. Kennedy Library, in Boston, Massachusetts^[4]
• 1979 — Baltimore World Trade Center, in Baltimore, Maryland
• 1979–1986 — Javits Convention Center in New York, New York
• 1980–1985 — Raffles City in Singapore.
• 1981 — the Texas Commerce Tower in Houston, Texas, currently the JPMorgan Chase Tower; (3D/International cooperated with Pei on the design of this building)
• 1982 — 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado.
• 1982–1990 — Bank of China Tower, in Hong Kong
  • Bank of China Tower project website
• 1982 — Apartment for Steve Jobs
• 1983 — Energy Plaza, Dallas, Texas
• 1985 — Wiesner building, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1986 — Fountain Place, Dallas, Texas
• 1987 — CenTrust Tower, Miami, Florida
• 1989 — Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas
• 1989 — Carl Icahn Center for Science at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut
• 1989 — Headquarters for Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, California
• 1989 — Pyramids of the Louvre, in Paris, France
  • Pyramide du Louvre website. (See also: La Pyramide Inversée.)
• 1991 — Miho Museum, Shiga, Japan
  • Official museum website
  • Official information on the architecture
• 1992 — The Kirklin Clinic of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, Birmingham, Alabama
• 1994 — Four Seasons Hotel New York, New York City, New York
• 1995 — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1997 — Miho Museum, near Kyoto, Japan.
• 1999–2006 — Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, in Luxembourg, Luxembourg
  • Official museum website The Folly at Oare House in England
• 2001 — Friend Center for Engineering, at Princeton University.
• 2002 — Tour EDF, La Défense, France
• 2003 — extension building to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German history museum), in Berlin, Germany.
• 2005 — Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.
• 2006 — Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan (currently under construction).
• 2006 — Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Washington D.C.(currently under construction).
• 2002–2006 — New wing of Suzhou Museum, in Suzhou, China

Selected works

1961 — National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado	1963 — Luce Memorial Chapel, Tunghai University, Taiwan	1964 — Green Building, Massachusetts Institute of Technology	1972 — Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut
1974 — The East Building of the National Gallery of Art	1978 — Indiana University Art Museum at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana	1989 — Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong	1995 — The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, showing Lake Erie in the background

Reference

1. Gero von Boehm, Conversations with I.M. Pei: "Light is the Key" ISBN 3-7913-2176-5
2. Michael Cannell, I.M. Pei : Mandarin of Modernism ISBN 0-517-79972-3 #(Excerpt)
3. Carter Wiseman, I. M. Pei: A Profile in American Architecture ISBN 0-8109-3477-9

1. Wikipedia entry — Steve Jobs

External links

• Pei Cobb Freed & Partners website
• Interview with I.M. Pei (June 2004)
• New York Architecture Images- Pei, Cobb, Freed
• Pritzker Prize biography, Photo Gallery, and Acceptance Speech

• Biography (World of Biography)

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