I. M. Pei

Ieoh Ming Pei
Architect I.M. Pei in the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg
Born	(1917-04-26) April 26, 1917 Guangzhou (Canton), China
Nationality	American
Occupation	Architect
Years active	1948-1990
Awards	AIA Gold Medal Presidential Medal of Freedom Pritzker Prize
Buildings	Louvre Pyramid Bank of China Tower Javits Convention Center East Building, National Gallery of Art Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

I. M. Pei
Traditional Chinese	貝聿銘
Simplified Chinese	贝聿铭
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bèi Yùmíng Gwoyeu Romatzyh Bey Yuhming Wade–Giles Pei4 Yü4-ming2 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping bui3 jyut6 ming3

Ieoh Ming Pei (貝聿銘) (born April 26, 1917), commonly known by his initials I. M. Pei, is a Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese-born American architect, known as the last master of high modernist architecture.

Early life and education

Pei was born in Canton (pinyin: Guangzhou), China on April 26, 1917, to a prominent family from Suzhou. His father, a banker, was later the director of the Bank of China and the governor of the Central Bank of China. His family later moved to Shanghai, but resided in his native city Suzhou, a city near Shanghai. The family's residence is in a renowned garden in Suzhou, now part of the World Heritage Site 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 St. Paul's College, Hong Kong (primary school), and then at Saint John's University, Shanghai (high school) before moving to the United States to study architecture at the age of 18 at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. He is a 1940 recipient of the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, the MIT Traveling Fellowship, and the AIA Gold Medal. He then studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Shortly after his studies there, he was a member of the National Defense Research Committee in Princeton, New Jersey.

In 1944, he returned to Harvard, studying under Walter Gropius, who was previously associated with the Bauhaus. He received a Master's degree in Architecture in 1946. He was a member of the Harvard faculty subsequently attaining the rank of assistant professor. He received the Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship in 1951 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1954.

Career

In 1948, William Zeckendorf hired Pei to work at the real estate development corporation Webb and Knapp in a newly created post, Director of Architecture. While at Webb and Knapp, Pei worked on many large-scale architectural and planning projects across the country and designed his buildings mostly in the manner of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

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

Honors

Ambassador Ann L. Wagner hosts a reception for American Architect I.M. Pei to celebrate the opening of his latest project, the Musee d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM) in Luxembourg

I.M. Pei is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a Corporate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He has also been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Design, and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1975 he was elected to the American Academy, which is restricted to a lifetime membership of fifty members. In 1978, he became Chancellor of the American Academy, the first architect to hold that position. He served until 1980. Mr. Pei was inducted a "Membre de l'Institut de France" in 1984, and decorated by the French government as a Commandeur in the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" in 1985. On July 4, 1986, he was one of twelve naturalized American citizens to receive the Medal of Liberty from President Ronald Reagan. Two years later French president François Mitterrand inducted I. M. Pei as a Chevalier in the Légion d'Honneur. In November 1993 he was raised to Officier. Also in 1993, he was elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In 1997 the Académie d'Architecture de France elected him Foreign Member. IM Pei has been named as the recipient of the 2010 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. IM Pei will be presented with the Royal Gold Medal on February 11, 2010 (to be confirmed) at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, when the 2010 RIBA International and Honorary Fellowships will also be presented.

Family and later life

In 1990, Pei retired from his firm but still maintains an office there. He has 4 children, 2 of them architects. Two of his sons, Chien Chung (Didi) Pei and Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, after leaving their father's firm, established their own practice, Pei Partnership Architects in 1992. I. M. Pei still participates in design work with both Pei Cobb Freed and Partners and Pei Partnership Architects.

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 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States; showing Lake Erie in the foreground
• 2006 — Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Mudam Luxembourg
  2006 — Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Mudam Luxembourg
• 2008 — The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar
  2008 — The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar

Project list

Main article: List of I.M. Pei Projects

References

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

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
• Ieoh Ming Pei at Structurae
• Biography (World of Biography)
• Concept sketches for The Musée d'Art Moderne by I.M. Pei
• Digital archive of American architecture: I.M. Pei