I. M. Pei facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
I. M. Pei
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| 貝聿銘 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Pei in 1980
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| Born | April 26, 1917 Guangzhou, Guangdong, Republic of China
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| Died | May 16, 2019 (aged 102) New York City, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BArch) Harvard University (MArch) |
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| Occupation | Architect | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) |
Eileen Loo
(m. 1942; died 2014) |
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| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 貝聿銘 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 贝聿铭 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Ieoh Ming Pei (born April 26, 1917 – died May 16, 2019) was a famous Chinese-American architect. He was known for designing many iconic buildings around the world. His family came from Suzhou, China, where beautiful garden homes inspired him early on.
In 1935, Pei moved to the United States to study architecture. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and later Harvard University. There, he learned from important architects like Walter Gropius.
Pei started his own design firm in 1955. He became famous for his unique style, which often used simple shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. He loved to combine classic ideas with modern designs.
Some of his most well-known projects include the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, D.C., and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Massachusetts. He also designed the Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Pei received many top awards for his work. These included the Pritzker Prize in 1983, often called the "Nobel Prize of architecture." He continued to design and inspire until his death at 102 years old.
Contents
- Early Life and Inspiration
- Learning to Be an Architect
- Starting His Own Firm
- Designing Amazing Buildings
- Mesa Laboratory: A Mountain Design
- John F. Kennedy Library: A Special Memorial
- Dallas City Hall: A Symbol for the People
- National Gallery East Building: Art and Light
- Fragrant Hills Hotel: A Return to Roots
- The Louvre Pyramid: A Glass Masterpiece
- Meyerson Symphony Center: Perfect Sound
- Bank of China Tower: A Modern Landmark
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Music's Home
- Museums Around the World
- Pei's Unique Style
- Awards and Recognition
- Family Life
- Images for kids
- See also
Early Life and Inspiration
I. M. Pei was born on April 26, 1917, in Guangzhou, China. His family had a long history, tracing back to the Ming dynasty. They were well-off and known for their success.
When Pei was a baby, his family moved to Hong Kong. He was one of five children. Pei was very close to his mother, who loved music and meditation. She often invited him to join her quiet retreats.
Pei's father worked in banking, but Pei was more interested in art and music. He explored these interests on his own. He later said he "cultivated himself" in the arts.
At age 10, Pei's family moved to Shanghai. He went to St. John's Middle School, which had strict rules. Students had little free time, but Pei enjoyed movies and billiards. He also learned English by reading books.
Shanghai was a bustling city with many international buildings. This mix of styles greatly influenced young Pei. He also loved the beautiful gardens in Suzhou, where he spent summers. The Lion Grove Garden, owned by his uncle, was a special place. He admired how it blended nature with human-made designs.
Sadly, Pei's mother became very ill and passed away when he was 13. This was a very difficult time for him. His father became very busy with work, and the children lived with other family members.
Learning to Be an Architect
When Pei finished high school, he decided to go to college in the United States. He was excited by the idea of American college life, which he saw in movies. In 1935, he sailed to San Francisco and then traveled to Philadelphia.
At the University of Pennsylvania, Pei found that professors taught an older style of architecture. He was more interested in modern designs. He also felt nervous about the drawing skills of other students.
Pei then transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, he discovered the work of architect Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier's modern designs, using glass and steel, greatly inspired him. Pei called Le Corbusier's visit to MIT "the most important days in my architectural education."
Pei earned his architecture degree from MIT in 1940. He learned the important science and techniques of building. Later, he went to Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD).
During World War II, Pei paused his studies to help with research. He used his knowledge of structures to assist the war effort. After the war, he returned to Harvard.
At Harvard, Pei worked with famous architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. They were leaders of the Bauhaus movement, which focused on modern design. Pei's own design for an art museum in Shanghai was highly praised by Gropius. Pei received his master's degree in 1946.
Starting His Own Firm
In 1948, Pei began working for a real estate developer in New York City, William Zeckendorf. This experience taught him a lot about city planning. He learned how buildings fit into a larger urban area.
Pei's first building design came to life in 1949 in Atlanta, Georgia. He used marble for the outside walls, which was admired. He soon had many projects and brought in other talented architects to help.
In 1955, Pei started his own firm, I. M. Pei & Associates. This gave him more freedom to create. His firm became known for using detailed models to plan buildings. They designed residential areas like Kips Bay Towers in Manhattan and Society Hill Towers in Philadelphia. These projects often included green spaces and modern designs.
Pei also designed the Green Building for MIT's Earth science program. He learned important lessons about how wind affects tall buildings. He also co-designed the beautiful Luce Memorial Chapel in Taiwan.
By 1960, Pei's firm became fully independent. This allowed him to focus more on the creative side of architecture. He was ready for new and exciting challenges.
Designing Amazing Buildings
Mesa Laboratory: A Mountain Design
In 1961, Pei was asked to design the Mesa Laboratory for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. This was different from his city projects because it was in the Rocky Mountains. He wanted the building to blend with nature.
Pei found inspiration in ancient cliff dwellings and Buddhist retreats. He designed a series of buildings that looked "as if it were carved out of the mountain." He even chose rocks that matched the nearby mountains.
The complex used cubist designs and walkways that encouraged people to meet. Although there were some construction challenges, Pei considered it his "breakout building."
John F. Kennedy Library: A Special Memorial
After President John F. Kennedy passed away in 1963, his family wanted a library to honor him. Jacqueline Kennedy, his widow, chose Pei to design it. She admired his varied ideas and felt a personal connection with him.
The project faced many challenges and delays. Pei's first idea included a large glass pyramid, symbolizing hope. However, some people in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it was first planned, worried about traffic and the design clashing with older buildings.
Eventually, the library was built at Columbia Point in Boston. Pei created a new design with a large glass atrium, a triangular tower, and a circular walkway.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum opened in 1979. Critics generally liked it, but Pei felt the final building lacked some of his original vision due to all the changes. Still, this project greatly boosted his reputation.
Dallas City Hall: A Symbol for the People
After President Kennedy's death, Dallas leaders wanted to improve the city's image. They decided to build a new city hall that would be a "symbol of the people." Erik Jonsson, the acting mayor, chose Pei for the job.
Pei spent time meeting with Dallas residents to understand their pride in the city. He wanted the city hall to stand out among the tall skyscrapers. He aimed for a building that could "convey an image of the people."
Working with Theodore Musho, Pei designed a unique building. Its top is wider than its bottom, and the front leans at a 34-degree angle. This angle helps shade the building from the Texas sun. A large plaza stretches out in front.
The Dallas City Hall opened in 1978 and was well-received by the community. Pei considered it a success, even if he felt it had "more strength than finesse." He went on to design five more buildings in the Dallas area.
National Gallery East Building: Art and Light
In the mid-1960s, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., needed a new building. Paul Mellon, a main supporter, chose Pei for the project. The new building would hold art collections, offices, and research archives.
Pei was inspired by the unusual trapezoid shape of the building site. In 1968, he sketched two triangles on paper. The larger triangle would be the public gallery, and the smaller one would hold offices. This triangular shape became central to his design.
Pei designed a huge lobby with skylights to fill the space with light. Galleries were placed around the edges, allowing visitors to return to the main room after seeing each exhibit. A large sculpture by Alexander Calder was added to the lobby.
To match the original gallery, marble was brought from the same quarry in Knoxville, Tennessee. The East Building opened in 1978 to great public excitement. Critics praised its "palatial statement of the creative accommodation of contemporary art and architecture."
Fragrant Hills Hotel: A Return to Roots
After a visit to China in 1974, Pei was asked to design a hotel in his home country. He chose a beautiful valley called Fragrant Hills, which was once an imperial garden. He wanted to create a design that honored Chinese traditions.
Pei's design included many gardens and blended with nature. It had a large central atrium covered by glass, similar to his National Gallery East Building. Openings in the walls offered views of the natural scenery.
The hotel, with 325 rooms, was carefully built to fit its surroundings. Pei even brought in 230 tons of rocks from southwest China for the garden. He was very involved in every detail of the project.
The Fragrant Hill Hotel opened in 1982. It faced challenges due to differences in construction methods and technology. Despite the difficulties, Pei aimed to create a building that reflected Chinese heritage.
The Louvre Pyramid: A Glass Masterpiece
In 1981, French President François Mitterrand asked Pei to help renovate the Louvre Museum in Paris. Pei became the first foreign architect to work on this historic site.
Pei proposed a central entrance that would link the museum's three main wings. At the heart of the courtyard, he designed a glass and steel pyramid. This pyramid would serve as the main entrance and a skylight.
Many people in France were initially against the pyramid design. Some called it an "atrocity" and criticized having a foreign architect. Pei estimated that 90 percent of Parisians opposed his idea.
However, Pei and his team gained support from cultural figures. A full-sized model of the pyramid was placed in the courtyard, which helped people see its scale. Public opinion began to change.
The new Cour Napoléon opened in 1988, and the Pyramid entrance in 1989. Public opposition softened, and many came to love the design. The Louvre Pyramid became Pei's most famous structure, known worldwide.
Meyerson Symphony Center: Perfect Sound
In 1989, Pei returned to Dallas, Texas, to design the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. City leaders wanted a world-class music hall. Although it was his first concert hall, Pei was chosen for the project.
The main goal was perfect acoustics for live music. A sound expert designed a "shoebox" auditorium, known for great sound in European halls. Pei drew inspiration from classical architects and the grand Paris Opéra.
Pei's design placed the main hall at an angle, connecting it to other buildings with circles and cones. He used modern features to create the visual and acoustic effects of traditional elements. The project was ambitious and costly.
The building opened to widespread praise, especially for its amazing acoustics. A music critic for The New York Times highly complimented the design. Pei felt it was a "very mature building" after years of experience.
Bank of China Tower: A Modern Landmark
In 1982, the Chinese government asked Pei to design a new tower for the Bank of China in Hong Kong. They wanted a building that showed modernity and economic strength. Pei agreed to the project, despite his past challenges with the Fragrant Hills Hotel.
The building site in Hong Kong was small and surrounded by highways. Pei found inspiration by experimenting with sticks, leading to a cascading design.
His design for the Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong used four triangular shafts rising from a square base. It had a visible support structure that distributed weight to the corners. Pei used reflective glass and diagonal bracing, making the building look like growing bamboo, a symbol of vitality.
The tower became a striking landmark in Hong Kong.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Music's Home
In the 1990s, Pei took on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Some were surprised that an architect known for high culture would design a tribute to popular music. But the sponsors wanted his respected touch.
Pei designed a glass wall entrance, similar to his Louvre pyramid. The main building was covered in white metal, with a large cylinder for performances. He aimed to create a "sense of tumultuous youthful energy."
The building opened in 1995. While it brought many tourists to Cleveland, Pei himself felt somewhat disappointed. He believed the museum's early planning had been unclear.
Museums Around the World
Pei continued to design many museums. He worked on the Mudam in Luxembourg, adapting his plans to preserve historical walls. He also designed an extension for the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, combining modern glass with a classical structure.
For a Japanese religious movement, Pei designed a bell tower and the Miho Museum. The museum, built into a mountain, displayed artifacts from the Silk Road. Visitors reach it through a tunnel cut through a mountain and a bridge.
In the 2000s, Pei designed the Suzhou Museum near his childhood home. He also created the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha in Qatar. For this project, he toured mosques in many countries, finding inspiration in their simple elegance. The museum's sand-colored boxes and arched windows pay tribute to Islamic architecture.
Pei also contributed to the Macao Science Center in Macau. This conical building, with a spiral walkway and interactive exhibits, became a new landmark by the sea.
Pei's long and impactful career ended with his death in May 2019.
Pei's Unique Style
Pei's architectural style was modern, often using cubist themes. He was famous for blending traditional ideas with new designs. He frequently used simple geometric shapes like circles, squares, and triangles in his buildings.
One critic described Pei as combining "a classical sense of form with a contemporary mastery of method." Pei believed that the style of a building was less important than how it affected the community and life.
Pei's designs were very unique and specific to each project. He called his approach "analytical," meaning he carefully considered the time, place, and purpose of each building. This made his work stand out.
Awards and Recognition
I. M. Pei received almost every major award in architecture. These included the Arnold Brunner Award (1963) and the Gold Medal for Architecture (1979). He also won the AIA Gold Medal (1979) and the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture (1989).
In 1983, he was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize, often called the "Nobel Prize of architecture." The jury praised his "beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms" and his "poetry" in using materials. Pei used the $100,000 prize to create a scholarship for Chinese students to study architecture in the U.S.
In 1986, he received the Medal of Liberty. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in 2003.
Pei's work was recognized for challenging engineers to find new solutions and encouraging high construction standards. In 1996, he became the first foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Family Life
Pei's wife, Eileen Loo, passed away in 2014. They were married for many years and had three sons: T'ing Chung, Chien Chung (known as Didi), and Li Chung (known as Sandi). They also had a daughter, Liane.
His sons, Chien Chung and Li Chung, followed in their father's footsteps. They are both architects and founded their own firm, Pei Partnership Architects. His daughter, Liane, became a lawyer.
Pei was also an important figure for Chinese Americans. He helped start the Committee of 100 in 1989. This group works to build stronger relationships between the United States and China.
Pei celebrated his 100th birthday on April 26, 2017. He passed away peacefully in his Manhattan apartment on May 16, 2019, at the age of 102.
Images for kids
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As a child, Pei found the Shizilin Garden in Suzhou to be "an ideal playground".
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Pei describes the architecture of Shanghai's Bund waterfront area (seen here in a 2004 photo) as "very much a colonial past".
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Pei's first project (1949) 131 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta
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Pei wanted the open spaces and buildings of L'Enfant Plaza to be "functionally and visually related" to one another.
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Pei said he wanted the Mesa Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research to look "as if it were carved out of the mountain".
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As with NCAR, Pei combined elements of cubism and natural harmony when designing the dormitories at New College of Florida in the mid-1960s.
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Pei considered the John F. Kennedy Library "the most important commission" in his life.
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Providence's Cathedral Square, modeled after the Greek Agora marketplace
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Pei wanted his design for Dallas City Hall to "convey an image of the people".
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The disastrous failure of windows on the Hancock Tower required replacing them with plywood; some called it "the world's tallest wood building".
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Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
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Time magazine headlined its review of Pei's design for the East Building "Masterpiece on the Mall".
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Critic Richard Hennessy complained in Artforum about the East Building's "shocking fun-house atmosphere".
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Pei was surprised by public resistance to his traditional design of the hotel at Fragrant Hills in China. "Many people thought I was being reactionary," he said.
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Pei said of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center: "The complications exceeded even my expectations."
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Pei was acutely aware, as he said, that "the history of Paris was embedded in the stones of the Louvre."
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Pei decided that a pyramid was "most compatible" with the other structures at the Louvre, complementing their roofs' faceted planes.
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Although he usually designed entirely by hand, Pei used a computer to "confirm the spaces" for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.
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One staff member sympathized with Pei's frustrations with the lack of organization at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, admitting that he was "operating in a vacuum".
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Pei's tunnel through a mountain leading to the Miho Museum was partly inspired by a story from fourth-century Chinese poet Tao Yuanming.
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The Macao Science Center in Macau, designed by Pei Partnership Architects in association with I. M. Pei.
See also
In Spanish: Ieoh Ming Pei para niños
- List of I. M. Pei projects