• The first full-scale retrospective of I. M. Pei’s life and career, with Bank of China (Hong Kong) as the Lead Sponsor of the exhibition
• Features more than three hundred objects, many of them never exhibited
• Presented through six main themes representing areas of focus that consistently characterised Pei’s life and career
• Showcase of newly commissioned photographs of Pei’s buildings by seven international photographers, and five architectural models of Pei’s significant projects made in collaboration with architecture schools at the University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• New 400-page definitive monograph published by Thames & Hudson in collaboration with M+

M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, will present I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, the first full-scale retrospective of Chinese-born American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (1917–2019), widely known as I. M. Pei, one of the most influential architects of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Generously supported by Lead Sponsor Bank of China (Hong Kong), this Special Exhibition will be held in the museum’s West Gallery and open to the public on Saturday, 29 June 2024.

Pei’s high-profile projects were realised over seven decades with an exceptionally wide geographic reach—including the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, D.C., the modernisation of the Grand Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. These landmark projects solidified his legacy and position in architectural history and popular culture. His life and work weave together a tapestry of power dynamics, geopolitical complexities, and cultural traditions around the world. His transcultural vision laid a foundation for the contemporary world.

Organised with the support of the Estate of I. M. Pei and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, which succeeded the architectural firm Pei founded, the exhibition is curated by Shirley Surya, Curator, Design and Architecture, M+, and Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut (New Institute), Rotterdam. This retrospective features more than three hundred objects, many of them never exhibited before. These include original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and other archival documentation from institutional and private holdings.

The exhibition takes a close look at Pei’s life and work through six areas of focus that not only define his unique practice, but also place his architectural projects in dialogue with social, cultural, and biographical trajectories, showing architecture and life to be inseparable. These areas are:

• Pei’s Cross-Cultural Foundations shows how Pei’s upbringing and architectural education formed the foundation of his ability to reconcile multiple sources of influence across cultures and between tradition and modernity.
• Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment unveils a lesser-known phase of Pei’s career as part of real estate developer Webb & Knapp in New York City. It explores his contributions to mixed-use planning, housing, and urban revitalisation projects in the United States in the 1960s, and subsequently beyond American borders.
• Art and Civic Form introduces Pei’s museum designs and his frequent collaborations with artists from Henry Moore to Zao Wou-Ki. The section demonstrates his belief in museums as civic spaces, the importance of dialogue between art and architecture, and his deep affinity with the contemporary art of his time.
• Power, Politics, and Patronage reveals how Pei—with his technical mastery, ingenious problem-solving, and sensitivity to client needs—became a trusted collaborator in high-profile commissions that drew both immense support and public controversy throughout his career.
• Material and Structural Innovation illustrates Pei and his team’s consistent inventiveness in the use of materials and construction methods, especially with concrete, stone, glass, and steel.
• Reinterpreting History through Design examines Pei’s long-standing interest in making modern architecture relevant to different histories, traditions, and ways of life, particularly those related to his birthplace. Pei distilled the essence of cultural and historical archetypes to provide formal or spatial strategies for contemporary needs.

To engage a new generation of architecture students with the work of I. M. Pei, M+ has partnered with two Master’s programmes focusing on the design of tall structures and cultural spaces at the University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture and The Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Architecture respectively. Students have contributed to creating altogether five models in their studios to represent some of Pei’s most significant built and unbuilt projects. The projects include ‘Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai’ (1946), Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design Master’s thesis; Hyperboloid (1954–1956; unbuilt), New York; and Luce Memorial Chapel (1954–1963), Tunghai University, Taichung.

The exhibition also features newly commissioned photographs of eleven of Pei’s built projects by seven international photographers, taken during the pandemic, to reconsider the enduring influence of Pei’s work. The photographers are South Ho Siu Nam (Hong Kong), Naho Kubota (New York City), Lee Kuo-Min (Taipei), Giovanna Silva (Milan), Mohamed Somji (Dubai), Tian Fangfang (Shanghai), and Tomoko Yoneda (Tokyo/London).

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘Few lives embody the vision of transcultural exchange at the heart of M+ as thoroughly and elegantly as that of I. M. Pei. We are honoured to host the first major retrospective devoted to the legendary architect, whose work shaped the built environment for the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This project reintroduces Pei and his contributions to a contemporary audience worldwide while bringing to the surface important facets of his career that have long been overlooked.’

I. M. Pei’s son, the architect Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, partner and founder of PEI Architects, says, ‘This exhibition brings to the public the first major retrospective of our father’s productive and far-reaching career, notably elucidating the transcultural influences and distinctive historical circumstances that contributed to his unique place as an architect and global citizen. Gathered over many years from a multitude of sources, the exhibition details a remarkable personal story that only in its full telling 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.’

To coincide with the exhibition, a new 400-page book I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture with 469 colour illustrations will be published in July 2024 by Thames & Hudson in collaboration with M+. The title presents both celebrated and lesser-known aspects of Pei’s life and career by featuring largely unpublished archival materials, newly commissioned photographs and essays, as well as personal anecdotes from scholars and those who knew and worked with Pei.

I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture is generously supported by the Lead Sponsor Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bei Shan Tang Foundation, the Family of S. P. Tao, Travel Partner Cathay, and Hotel Partner The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong.

Exhibition details and ticketing arrangements will be announced in late April 2024.

About I. M. Pei

Ieoh Ming Pei (1917–2019) was born in Guangzhou before moving to Hong Kong in 1918. Pei spent his teenage years in Shanghai and Suzhou before beginning his architectural education in the United States in 1935. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940 and his graduate degree at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 1946. In 1948, Pei headed the architectural division of Webb & Knapp, founded by real estate developer William Zeckendorf, in New York City. There, Pei’s projects included Kips Bay Plaza (1957–1962), Mile High Center (1952–1956), and Society Hill (1957–1964). I. M. Pei & Associates, informally established in 1955, became independent from Webb & Knapp in 1960. Important commissions included the National Center for Atmospheric Research (1961–1967), Everson Museum of Art (1961–1968), and John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (1964–1979). The firm was renamed I. M. Pei & Partners in 1966. The late 1960s was marked by major public commissions like the National Gallery of Art East Building (1968–1978) and Pei’s increasing international presence with projects such as the OCBC Centre (1970–1976), Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Bank of China Tower (1982–1989), and the modernisation of the Grand Louvre (1983–1993). Pei became the fifth Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate in 1983. In 1990, Pei retired from full-time practice as I. M. Pei & Partners was restructured as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, but he nevertheless took on projects independently, like the Miho Museum (1991–1997), Suzhou Museum (2000–2006), Museum of Islamic Art (2000–2008), and, lastly, the Miho Institute of Aesthetics Chapel (2008–2012).

About M+

M+ is a museum dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, it is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world, with a bold ambition to establish ourselves as one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. M+ is a new kind of museum that reflects our unique time and place, a museum that builds on Hong Kong’s historic balance of the local and the international to define a distinctive and innovative voice for Asia’s twenty-first century.

About the West Kowloon Cultural District

The West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest and most ambitious cultural projects in the world. Its vision is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong on forty hectares of reclaimed land located alongside Victoria Harbour. With a varied mix of theatres, performance spaces, and museums, the West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances, and cultural events, providing twenty-three hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade.