Life is Architecture – TLmagazine

IM Pei: Life is Architecture, at the M+ Museum of Contemporary Visual Culture in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, is the first large-scale retrospective of Chinese-American architect IM Pei (1917–2019), one of the most influential architects of the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in 1917 in Guangzhou, he moved to Hong Kong in 2018 and spent his teenage years in Shanghai and Suzhou. In 1935, he moved to the United States to pursue a bachelor’s degree at MIT and in 1946 to Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He worked for a few years for a real estate development company in New York City and founded his own firm, IM Pei and Associates, in 1960. Pei was the fifth winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983.

For seven decades, Pei was a pioneering architect – a visionary, constantly innovating, designing buildings and public spaces that touched tradition and cultural heritage, but with an entirely new voice and style. His projects can be found all over the world, from the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington DC (1968-1978), the modernization of the Louvre in Paris, including the iconic Pyramid (1983-1993), the Bank of China Tower (1982-1989), to the majestic Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (2000-2008), one of his last official projects.

IM Pei: Life is Architecture is curated by Shirley Surya, Curator, Design and Architecture, M+, and Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut (New Institute), Rotterdam, with the support of the Estate of IM Pei and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. It features over 400 objects, many of which have never been exhibited before, including original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and other archival documentation from institutional and private collections.

The exhibition takes a close look at Pei’s life and work through the lens of six themes: Pei’s cross-cultural foundations, real estate and urban redevelopment, art and civic form, power, politics and patronage, material and structural innovation, and reinterpreting history through design. IM Pei’s son, architect Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, partner and founder of PEI Architects, says: ‘This exhibition brings to the public the first large-scale retrospective of our father’s prolific and far-reaching career, illuminating the transcultural influences and distinctive historical circumstances that contributed to his unique place as an architect and global citizen. Collected over many years from a multitude of sources, the exhibition chronicles a remarkably personal story that only in its fullest extent reveals the complexities, challenges, and achievements of his long and optimistic life. We are proud of this exhibition and thank the M+ team for its thorough, intelligent, and enlightened documentation.’

A 400-page monograph was published to coincide with the exhibition IM Pei: Life is architecture with over 400 colour illustrations is published by Thames & Hudson in association with M+. The title presents both celebrated and lesser-known aspects of Pei’s life and career through largely unpublished archival material, newly commissioned photographs and essays, as well as personal anecdotes from scholars and those who knew and worked with Pei.

IM Pei: Life is Architecture can be seen at M+ until January 5, 2025.

https://mplus.org.hk/

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