I.M. PEI

NOR ALIAH BINTI AZIZAN2012363329

BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

EARLY LIFE

EDUCATION

CAREER

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

PROJECTS

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

CONTENTS

EARLY LIFE• Ieoh Ming Pei (I.M. Pei) was born on April

26, 1917 as a first son to Tsuyee Pei and Lien Kwun

 in Canton (Guangzhou). His father was a banker and his mother was a gifted flute player

• In 1918, his family move to Hong Kong due to some political crisis in Canton. Hong Kong was governed

by Great Britain. The Pei family lived in Hong Kong for 9 years. During that time, 3 more children were born: I.M.'s sister, Wei, and his two brothers, Kwun and Chung.

• In 1927, I.M.'s father was made manager of the bank's main office in Shanghai and they start to live in

Shanghai.

• Back in Shanghai, many new buildings were under

construction. I. M. was awed by the first high-rise building he ever saw. It was twenty-three stories high, Wherever he went, he began to be acutely aware of the buildings and structures that surrounded him.

• I. M. Pei respected his father, but he was much

closer to his mother. In 1930, when I. M. was only thirteen years old, his mother died of cancer.

• In the summers, the Pei family journeyed to

Suzhou, where many of their relatives still lived. The children were sent to live with extended family, their father became more consumed by his work and more physically distant. His father began living his own separate life pretty soon after that.

• The family retreat in Suzhou was known as the Garden of the Lion Forest. The beautiful Lion Forest gardens were skillfully designed. Even as a young boy, I. M. noticed how buildings and nature were combined in the gardens. He was especially impressed by the way light and shadow played together in their design. As a child, Pei found the Lion Forest gardens or known as Shizlin

Garden in Suzhou to be "an ideal playground”

Lion Forest Garden

Pei describes the architecture of Shanghai's Bund waterfront area

(seen here in a 2006 photo) as "very much a colonial past"

EDUCATION

Saint Johns Middle School, Shanghai

University of Pennsylvania. (1935)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)(1940)

Harvard's  Graduate School of Design (GSD). Studied under Walter Grophius (1942)

National Defense Research Committee

Pei returned to Harvard in 1944 and completed his Master in Architecture in 1946

• Early education, Pei attended Saint Johns Middle School, Shanghai. Run by Protestant missionaries. Academic discipline was

rigorous. Pei enjoyed playing billiards and watching Hollywood movies. He also learned rudimentary English skills by reading the Bible and novels by Charles Dickens.

• He decided to study at an overseas university. He was accepted to a number of

schools, but decided to enroll at the University of Pennsylvania.

• However, differed vastly from his expectations. Professors at the University of Pennsylvania based their teaching in the Beaux-Arts style, rooted in the

classical traditions of Greece and Rome. Pei was more intrigued by modern architecture, and also felt intimidated by the high level of drafting proficiency shown by other students. He decided to abandon architecture and transferred to the engineering program

at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

• However, the dean of the architecture school (MIT) commented on his eye for

design and convinced Pei to return to his original major which is Architecture

• In November 1935, Le Corbusier visited MIT ,an occasion which powerfully affected Pei: "The two days with Le Corbusier, or 'Corbu' as we used to call him, were probably the most important days in my architectural

education” . Pei was also influenced by the work of US architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

• Pei received his Bachelors of Architecture degree in 1940.

• Pei was thus introduced to members of the faculty at

Harvard's Graduate School of Design (GSD). He was excited by the lively atmosphere, and joined the GSD in December 1942

• Less than a month later, Pei suspended his work at Harvard to join

the National Defense Research Committee, which coordinated scientific research into US weapons technology during World War II. Pei's background in architecture was seen as a considerable asset. one member

of the committee told him: "If you know how to build you should also know how to destroy.“

• Pei returned to Harvard in 1944 and completed his Master in Architecture in

1946

CAREER

• In 1955 he formed the partnership of I. M. Pei & Associates, which became Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in 1989. The partnership received the 1968 Architectural Firm Award of the American Institute of Architects.

• From 1978 to 1980, he was the Chancellor for the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in Washington, D.C.

• I.M. Pei was an instructor, then Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of

Design, from 1945 to 1948

• 1948 Pei was recruited by New York real estate magnate William Zeckendorf to join a

staff of architects for his firm of Webb and Knapp to design buildings around the country

• From 1966 to 1970, he was a member of the National Council on the Humanities in Washington, D.C.

• He was a member of the Urban Design Council of the City of New York from 1967 to 1972.

• He was a member of the National Urban Policy Task Force, American Institute of Architects, 1970 to 1974;

• he was a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge from 1972 to 1977

• 1978 to 1983. He was a member of the Task Force on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, American Institute of Architects, from 1978 to 1980.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY• Due to his reliance on abstract form and materials

such as stone, concrete, glass, and steel, Pei has been considered a disciple of Walter Gropius.

• However, Pei shows little concern with theory. He does not believe that architecture must find forms to express the times or that it should remain isolated from commercial forces.

• Pei generally designs sophisticated glass clad buildings loosely related to the high-tech movement.

• However, many of his designs result from original

design concepts. He frequently works on a large scale and is renowned for his sharp, geometric designs. 

• I.M. Pei will likely be remembered as a bastion of modernism whose appreciation for the urbane in art, planning, and architecture led him to the design of many of the world's most thoughtful projects.

“Great artists need Great Clients”

"It is not an individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you produce great architecture. You cannot work in the abstract"

NUMBER OF COMPLETE PROJECTS

North America : 48 Europe : 4 Middle East : 1 Asia : 11

• Washington Plaza Apartments, Pittsburgh PA (1964)• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto (1973)• Dallas City Hall, Texas (1977)• Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, Texas

(1989)• Le Grand Louvre, Paris (1993)• The Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse (1968) • The National Center for Atmospheric Research in

Boulder (1967)• National Gallery of Art • Texas Commerce Bank Tower in Houston (1982 )• Kips Bay Plaza through the Des Moines Art Center

Addition (1968) • The Mellon Center for the Arts at Choate School in

Wallingford, Connecticut (1972); • The Atmospheric Research Center; the Christian

Science Center in Boston (1973) (designed under the direction of Araldo Cossutta, who served as fourth partner from 196^-1973)

• The Johnson Museum of Art at Comell University (1973)The Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Centre in Singapore (1976),

• Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar Nov 2008

LIST OF PROJECTS

LOUVRE PYRAMID, PARIS, FRANCE

MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART, DOHA, QATAR

BANK OF CHINA TOWER, HONG KONG

MUDAM MUSEUM,LUXEMBORG

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

SUZHOUMUSEUM, CHINA

AWARDS• Erwin Wickert FoundationOrient und Okzident Preis  2006

• National Building MuseumHenry C. Turner Prizefor Innovation in Construction Technology  2003

• Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian InstitutionNational Design Award: Lifetime Achievement Award  2003

• The American Philosophical SocietyThe Thomas Jefferson Medal for distinguished achievement in the arts, humanities, or social sciences  2001

• Historic Landmarks Preservation Center, New YorkCultural Laureate  1999

• The MacDowell ColonyEdward MacDowell Medal  1998

• Brown UniversityIndependent Award  1997

• Municipal Art Society, New York CityJacqueline Kennedy Onassis MedalFebruary  1996

• Premio Internazionale Novecento La Rosa d'Oro 1996

• New York State Governor's Arts Award  1994• National Endowment for the Arts

Medal of Arts/Ambassador for the Arts Award  1994• Architectural Society of China (Beijing)

Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Architecture  1994• The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design of Jerusalem

Jerusalem Prize for Arts and Letters  1994• Medal of Freedom  1993• Officier de La Légion d'Honneur (France)  1993• Colbert Foundation

First Award for Excellence  1991• Excellence 2000 Award  1991• University of California at Los Angeles

UCLA Gold Medal  1990• Praemium Imperiale for lifetime achievement in architecture (Japan)  1989• National Medal of Art  1988• The Medal of Liberty  1986

• l'Académie des Beaux-ArtsAssocié Etranger, Institut de France  1984

• The Pritzker Architecture Prize  1983• National Arts Club

Gold Medal of Honor  1981• City of New York

Mayor's Award of Honor for Art and Culture  1981• L'Académie d'Architecture

La Grande Médaille d'Or (France)  1981• Rhode Island School of Design

President's Fellow  1979• American Academy of Arts and Letters

Gold Medal for Architecture  1979• The American Institute of Architects

The Gold Medal  1979• American Society of Interior Designers

Elsie de Wolfe Award  1978• The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Medal for Architecture  1976• The City Club of New York

For New York Award  1973• International Institute of Boston

Golden Door Award  1970• New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

Medal of Honor  1963• National Institute of Arts and Letters

Arnold Brunner Award  1961

The end. Thank you.