I.M.PEI

I. M. Pei was a Chinese-American architect. Raised in Shanghai, 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.

1. ieoh ming pei (April 26, 1917-May 16, 2019) Born in Suzhou, China, in 1917, Ieoh Ming Pei came to US at the age of 17 to study architecture. He received a bachelor’s degree from MIT in 1940 and a master’s in 1946 from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he remained as an assistant professor until 1948. In 1955, with his colleagues Mr. Pei formed I. M. Pei & Associates (later I. M. Pei & Partners in 1966 and Cobb Freed & Partners in 1989). In its six-decade history, the firm has done most well-known work . When he received his  Pritzker Prize in 1983, the jury citation stated that “he has given this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms." In 1990, Pei retired from full-time practice and started work ing as an architectural consultant . As inspired from Le Corbusier and modernist architecture, I.M. Pei took the core belief of modernism that form follows function, and added his own interpretation, "form follows intention" which incorporates function. This philosophy reflects in his work by incorporation of functional symbols. I.M . Pei also rejects the Internationalist vision of architecture as future vs. past, and instead sees his role as creating a bridge between the present and past. These core beliefs explain how Pei designs a wide variety of structures that are all consistent to his vision. “Life is architecture & architecture is mirror of life.” I . M. Pei style mostly include abstract form and materials such as stone, concrete, glass & steel. He designs sophisticated glass clad buildings loosely related to the high-tech movement. He frequently works on a large scale and is renowned for his sharp, simple geometric designs

2. Museum of islamic art, doha (2008) This was the last cultural building designed by Pei. As an avid collector of Western Abstract Expressionist art, Pei saw this as an opportunity to learn more about Islamic culture. The museum was built in a unique stacked-box design and with 376,740 sq. ft. area and composed of a 5 storey minimalist building and a 2 storey education wing with the geometric patterns and aesthetic details of the I slamic architecture sits on a man-made island in Doha harbor. From outside, the shape of the building is monolithic, introverted, strong yet complex. However from the interior it is hollow, and have a geometric skylight with a stainless steel domed ceiling above the grand staircase . The building’s materiality is one of blending in and of contrast.   Museum   with natural stone color will blend right into the surrounding of D oha contrasting with the strong, lively blue of the Arabian Gulf making museum stand out . I.M . Pei was requested to create an unavoidably tall unique headquarters in a typhoon-prone region that would represent the aspirations of the Chinese people. In response,   Pei designed a tall and dynamic tower, inspiring from bamboo, that would take advantage of the surrounding views while being robust enough to withstand a typhoon representing successful integration of structure and form to meet the needs of both client and city .   The solution was an asymmetrical tower that informs both skyline and street. The Bank of China Tower stands 70 stories tall, reaching a height of 1,209 feet. Comprised of four vertical shafts, the tower emerges from a 52-meter cube and reduces its mass, quadrant by quadrant, until a single triangular prism resides . The four shafts from which the building produce a modern composite structural system resists high-velocity winds and need less internal vertical supports, cladded in reflective glass that mirrors the changing sky. Bank of china tower (1990)

3. Louvre pyramid, paris (1989) The expansion and modernization of the historic Louvre, originally a royal palace, its three wings were physically disconnected from one another. Pei connected the wings by structure , which was constructed entirely with glass segments, 20.6 m high with a square base of 35 m, consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments. To minimize the impact of the structure, Pei demanded a method of glass production that resulted in clear panes . The sleek metal and glass structure is a functional symbol that simultaneously fulfills the needs of the Louvre. The pyramid's modern structure complements the historic Louvre in a harmonious contrast . Pei commented on the pyramid,  “If there’s one thing I know I didn’t do wrong, it’s the Louvre.” Pei’s first-ever museum changed and rejected the traditional notion that a museum needed to be a monumental container for art and decided it ought to be a sculptural work of art in itself, setting a high standard for museum designs that came afterward .  Pei conceived the contemporary style Everson as an open structure with access to its interior from all of its exposed sides . The building is primarily comprised of 4 opaque concrete volumes that contains galleries of differing size and height with a cantilevered second storey that when viewed from outside gives added hierarchy to the overall assemblage of forms that makeup the museum. The sculptural ambition of the building is also evident in the way in which the concrete is finished with a striated chiseled look displaying crafted like artifacts that inhabit it. Everson museum of arts, syracuse (1968)