Architect · United States · 1917-2019
I. M. Pei Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Chinese-American architect (1917-2019) whose precise geometric modernism shaped the Louvre Pyramid, the National Gallery’s East Building and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.
Photo: Bernard Gotfryd, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
I. M. Pei (1917-2019) was a Chinese-American architect known for a refined, geometric modernism of stone, glass and light. His works include the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the glass pyramid of the Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. He received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983.
From Guangzhou to MIT and Harvard
Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou and grew up in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Suzhou, whose classical gardens he later cited as an influence. He moved to the United States in 1935, studied architecture at MIT, graduating in 1940, and completed his master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1946, where he studied under Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer.
Webb and Knapp and an independent practice
In 1948 Pei joined the developer William Zeckendorf at Webb and Knapp as director of architecture, working on large urban projects across the United States. He founded I. M. Pei and Associates in 1955, later Pei Cobb Freed and Partners. In Taiwan he designed the Luce Memorial Chapel at Tunghai University (1963) with Chen Chi-kwan, and in Colorado the Mesa Laboratory for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (1967).
Washington, Boston and the Louvre
The East Building of the National Gallery of Art (1978), a composition of triangles in pink Tennessee marble, established his reputation for museums. After the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston (1979), President François Mitterrand chose him for the Grand Louvre, and the glass pyramid that opened in 1989 became one of the most recognised buildings in the world. In Hong Kong he completed the Bank of China Tower in 1990.
Late museums from Japan to Doha
Pei received the Pritzker Prize in 1983. After stepping back from his firm in 1990 he continued to design museums: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (1995), the Miho Museum near Kyoto (1997), MUDAM in Luxembourg (2006), the Suzhou Museum (2006) and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (2008), which he designed in his nineties. He died in New York in 2019 at the age of 102.
I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture
Published with the M+ museum for the first major retrospective of his work, this 400-page study draws on new archival research to cover every phase of Pei’s seven-decade career.
View on Amazon
Timeline
- 1917Born on 26 April in Guangzhou, China.
- 1935Moves to the United States to study architecture.
- 1940Graduates from MIT.
- 1946Completes his master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
- 1948Joins William Zeckendorf at Webb and Knapp.
- 1955Founds I. M. Pei and Associates.
- 1963Completes the Luce Memorial Chapel at Tunghai University, Taiwan.
- 1967Completes the Mesa Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.
- 1978Completes the East Building of the National Gallery of Art.
- 1983Receives the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
- 1989The Louvre Pyramid opens in Paris.
- 1990Completes the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.
- 1997Completes the Miho Museum near Kyoto.
- 2006Completes MUDAM in Luxembourg and the Suzhou Museum.
- 2008Completes the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.
- 2019Dies on 16 May in New York at the age of 102.
Best Books on I. M. Pei
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is I. M. Pei known for?
I. M. Pei is known for a precise, geometric modernism and for some of the most famous museums of the twentieth century, including the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. He received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983.
What are I. M. Pei’s most famous buildings?
His best-known buildings include the Louvre Pyramid, the National Gallery’s East Building, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, the Miho Museum in Japan and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.
What is the best book on I. M. Pei?
I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, published with the M+ museum in Hong Kong, is the most complete and up-to-date study of his life and work. I. M. Pei: Complete Works by Philip Jodidio and Janet Adams Strong is the standard project-by-project reference.
What is I. M. Pei’s architectural style?
Pei worked in a late modernist idiom built on strong geometric forms, especially triangles and pyramids, with carefully detailed stone, concrete and glass and a constant interest in daylight. His late works add references to local history and landscape.
Where can I see I. M. Pei’s architecture?
You can visit the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the Miho Museum near Kyoto, MUDAM in Luxembourg, the Suzhou Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.
