The Top Six Architects of All Time (Part Four)
In this fourth and final installment of our blog series celebrating famous architects throughout history, we are ending this chapter with I.M Pei.
Welcome back to the blog, and welcome to our final blog celebrating incredible architects throughout history. In these last two installments, we have chosen to give more time and more space to these modern architects to celebrate the mountain of success they have both received, and to spend a little more time talking about and connecting with them. It has been such a joy to go through our history and celebrate these six individuals who have shaped the world of architecture as we know it today. Their artistry, genius, individuality, and bravery have challenged the norms of the architectural world. As we mentioned last time, we hope these blogs have also inspired you. In a time where inspiration is needed more than ever, we hope you've found peace and solace here. We hope you've found inspiration for your next design project, and we hope you've found inspiration for your dream home or dream office space. As we come to the end of the road with this chapter of blogs, we would love to hear your feedback and learn what has inspired you as an architect or architect lover. Let's share in the celebration of these amazing individuals and where we are today because of them. For this week's blog, we are going to be celebrating I.M. Pei. Ironically, in this blog series, we have, by chance, chosen architects who were somehow distantly related or connected. In this case, we tragically lost both I.M. Pei and Zaha Hadid in 2016. They also both won many similar honors of awards. When we lost them both in 2016, the world hasn't been the same sense.
Ieoh Ming Pei (April 26, 1917 - May 16, 2016)
Notably one of the most influential and one of the greatest modern architects, Pei has left a legacy that won't be forgotten. Known for his incredibly unique style of using simple geometric shapes such as triangles, circles, and squares in large and elegantly designed buildings, Pei pushed the envelope of modern architecture. His use of concrete, glass, and steel has left us with some of the most famous modern buildings of our time. Looking back on his story, if a global disaster didn't get in his way of returning home, his career and legacy might have never happened.
Pei was born in Suzhou, China, and lived in Hong Kong and Shanghai before moving to the United States to study architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in 1935 at the age of 18. Pei was not impressed by the style of architecture being taught at the University of Pennsylvania at the time. According to Archdaily.com, he was uninspired by the Beaux-Arts traditional style of architecture that was being taught. He moved on to MIT to continue his studies as a student of architectural engineering. Here too, he was faced with more of the Beaux-Arts tradition but had professors on his side pushing him to stay and finish out his degree. He graduated from MIT in 1940.
After graduation, he planned to return home to China. Due to the outbreak of WWII, he was unable to do so. This quite possibly changed history forever. If Pei had gone back home, who knows if his incredible career would have unfolded as it did. During the war, according to Brittanica, he worked with the National Defense Research Committee. He then returned to his studies and found himself at Harvard Graduate School of Design. According to Archdaily.com, through his time at Harvard, he worked with prestigious architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. These two men helped found the Bauhaus School of thought and style, and were both some of the most influential founding fathers of modernistic architecture. Pei graduated in 1946 with his master's degree and eight years later he became a citizen of the United States.
With his master's degree in hand, Pei was ready to take the world by storm. Once he started, he didn't stop until the day he died. Throughout his extraordinary career, Pei didn't limit himself to what kind of architectural projects he worked on. From urban development to working with some of the most prolific museums and governmental projects, there was no part of the world Pei didn't touch. He joined his first firm, Webb & Knapp in 1948 in New York City and worked on a handful of urban projects. Some of the most notable of his time there, according to Brittanica, was the Mile High Center in Denver Colorado, the Hyde-Park Redevelopment in Chicago, and the Place Ville-Mane in Montreal. He had officially gone international with his work and there was no stopping Pei now.
Just a year after becoming a citizen of the United States, Pei opened his own firm in 1955, called I.M. Pei & Associates. In 1966 it was changed to Pei & Partners and finally, in 1986 it was changed to its final and current name of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Some of the most notable projects that Pei designed in the early years of his firm included the Mesa Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, The Everson Museum of Art, and work for the Federal Aviation Agency. Pei developed a pentagonal control tower that was used in airfields across the country and is still used today while working with the Federal Aviation Agency. He was also introduced to the Kennedy's during the 60s and was asked to design the multi-airline terminal at JFK international airport, according to Britannica. Following the death of JFK Pei met with his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to build and design the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library at Harvard University.
In the 70s and 80s, his career continued to escalate. Some of the buildings he built during this time included:
The West Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
The Joun Hancock Tower in Chicago
Nestle Corporate Headquarters
The Beijing Fragrant Hill Hotel
The Dallas Symphony Hall
The East Building of the National Gallery of Art
The New York Convention Center
The Gateway office complex in Singapore
Much more!
According to Brittanica, he was also very actively working on urban renewal planning and projects during this time. The end of the 1980s saw one of his most controversial projects, working to revitalize the Louvre Museum in Paris, according to Biography.com. The controversy he faced was because he planned a very stark and modern addition to the traditional Renaissance-style building that was built in 1793. This controversial piece became the sunning glass pyramid that now graces the courtyard of the Louvre and is just as iconic now as the museum itself. Le Grand Louvre has its visitors enter the museum through a large glass pyramid that has them descend underground, taking them into a whole new entry below the original courtyard, according to Biography.com
In the 1990s Pei retired from practicing full time, but that didn't stop his workload, it only mildly decreased it. Over the next ten years, he designed the Museum of Islamic Art, The NASCAR Hall of Fame, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Pei had an extraordinary 60-year career sought after by cultural, governmental, and commercial projects according to Biography.com. He was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1983 and used the prize money to start a scholarship for Chinese students to study architecture in the US, The Japan Art Associations Praemium Imperial Prize in 1989, the Royal Gold Medal in 2010, and much more.
Pei celebrated the world's natural flow and cultural influences in his work. According to Biography.com the goal of his style was to be an extension and elaboration of the International Style, not just the Modern Style. He always supported the idea to look towards the traditional architecture of the culture surrounding the development of a new project. These projects were not just an extension of the natural world around it, but also what had been culturally important in architecture throughout the history of where a building was being built. According to mymove.com Pei's work now stands on some of the most "acclaimed and prestigious" pieces of land and governmental sites worldwide.
Pei gave us 102 years of life and over 60 years of creating some of the most historically popular and important buildings we know today. With his graceful style of challenged geometric shapes, he made some of the biggest steps ahead in our industry in the last 100 years. We couldn't think of a better person to focus on and celebrate in this last blog of this series. Have you been to one of Pei's buildings? Have you studied his style and has it inspired a style of your own? We'd love to hear about it! Are you looking to begin building your dream home here in the Lowcountry? Have you found a historical gem that you want to transform into your perfect office space or home? We can help you with that, and we look forward to speaking with you about these projects very soon! Until next time, stay excited and inspired for whatever wonderful projects might be heading your way!