Architecture Is Life:
I. M. Pei

Details

Type: Talk

Language: Cantonese, English, Mandarin

Audience: Everyone

Location: Grand Stair

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Architecture Is Life:
I. M. Pei

What makes Ieoh Ming Pei (1917–2019), the architect behind some of the most iconic buildings such as the Louvre Pyramid and Bank of China Tower, one of the most celebrated modern architects of all time?

Beyond creating iconic landmarks, it is Pei’s unique and humanistic values on life and architectural practice that made his work memorable and enduring. M+’s latest Special Exhibition, I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, presents the first major retrospective exhibition of the Chinese American architect.

This opening talk reflects on how Pei exercised his values on architecture, cities, and life through personal accounts of people who have worked closely with Pei. Exhibition co-curator Shirley Surya will be joined by Pei’s son Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, Calvin Tsao, and Aslıhan Demirtaş—all of whom had contributed to the design of Pei’s major projects. They will be sharing untold stories on working with Pei in key collaborations including the Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982) in Beijing, Bank of China Tower (1982–1989) in Hong Kong, and Museum of Islamic Art (2000–2008) in Doha.

The talk will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation available in Cantonese and Mandarin. Click on ‘Register’ to sign up for this free talk. Tickets to the special exhibition are available for purchase here.

I. M. Pei and French president François Mitterrand inspecting a glass sample for the Louvre pyramid, 1987. © Marc Riboud/Fonds Marc Riboud au MNAAG/Magnum Photos

Facade of Bank of China Tower (1982–1989), Hong Kong, 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. © South Ho

Chinese officials viewing a model of Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing, 1979. Photo: © Calvin Tsao

Museum seen from the public promenade that circles its eastern side, Museum of Islamic Art (2000-2008), Doha, 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. © Mohamed Somji

I. M. Pei and French president François Mitterrand inspecting a glass sample for the Louvre pyramid, 1987. © Marc Riboud/Fonds Marc Riboud au MNAAG/Magnum Photos

Facade of Bank of China Tower (1982–1989), Hong Kong, 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. © South Ho

Chinese officials viewing a model of Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing, 1979. Photo: © Calvin Tsao

Museum seen from the public promenade that circles its eastern side, Museum of Islamic Art (2000-2008), Doha, 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. © Mohamed Somji

About the Speakers

Shirley Surya is Curator, Design and Architecture, at M+. Since 2012, she has contributed to building the M+ Collections through her research on design and architectural production across greater China and Southeast Asia. At M+, she co-curated the opening exhibitions Hong Kong: Here and Beyond (2021) and Things, Spaces, Interactions (2021), In Search of Southeast Asia through the M+ Collections (2018), and Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection (2014).

Portrait of Shirley Surya. Photo: Jovian Lim

Li Chung (Sandi) Pei is the co-founder of PEI ARCHITECTS (formerly Pei Partnership Architects) and the third son of Eileen and I. M. Pei. With a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, in 1976 he entered I. M. Pei & Partners where his award-winning projects include the Wiesner Building / MIT Arts + Media Technologies Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Creative Artists Agency Headquarters in Los Angeles, and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.

In 1992, Sandi and his brother Chien Chung (Didi) Pei founded their firm which has been involved in more than 70 commissions worldwide, ranging from commercial office buildings, hotels, and residential projects to laboratories, educational facilities, and museums, including, in collaboration with their father, the Suzhou Museum. Headquartered in New York City, PEI ARCHITECTS has a branch office in Beijing.

Calvin Tsao is the Architect Principal of Tsao & Mckown Architects, based in New York. Before co-founding Tsao & Mckown Architects in 1985, Tsao joined I. M. Pei & Partners in the early 1980s as one of the architects working on the Fragrant Hill Hotel. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Cooper Union, Syracuse University, and Parsons School of Design, The New School, lectured at universities and served as guest critic internationally.

Portrait of Calvin Tsao. Photo: Tsao & McKown

Other significant works of Tsao & McKown include Sunbrella Headquarters in Burlington, North Carolina; Sangha, a prototype community for 5,000 residents and At One Wellness Retreat in Suzhou, China; the renovation of the Jewish Museum permanent collection in New York.

Aslıhan Demirtaş is the founder of Khora, an expanded architecture practice based on research, art, and ecology, first established in New York and currently based in Istanbul. After completing her graduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), she collaborated with I. M. Pei as the lead project designer for the Museum of Islamic Arts in Doha, Qatar, and the Miho Institute of Aesthetics Chapel in Japan. Demirtaş has lectured and taught at Parsons School of Design, Bilgi University, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and MIT, among others.

Portrait of Aslıhan Demirtaş. Photo: Ali Cindoruk

Demirtaş is a recipient of the Graham Foundation Grant for her book Graft and acted as a technical reviewer for the 15th cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.