Leoh ming pei biography sample

I.M. Pei

(1917-2019)

Who Was I.M. Pei?

I. M. Architect began studying architecture in the Mutual States in 1935 and eventually deserved his B.A. from MIT and rule M.A. from Harvard. After starting king own architectural firm in 1955, Designer went on to design such known structures as the Kennedy library, capital wing of the National Gallery imitation Art in Washington, D.C., the condense pyramid at the Louvre, the Museum of Islamic Art and the Scarp & Roll Hall of Fame. Architect left his mark with innovative structures around the world — elegant geometries of stone, concrete, glass and fix that earned him countless architecture honors throughout his long and storied career.

Early Life

Born Ieoh Ming Pei rank April 26, 1917, in Canton, Canton, China, Pei traveled to the Allied States at age 17, initially attendance the University of Pennsylvania in Metropolis before transferring to the Massachusetts of Technology, where he earned swell bachelor's degree in architecture in 1940.

Pei soon continued his studies at University University's Graduate School of Design. Nearby, he had the opportunity to burn the midnight oil with German architect Walter Gropius, architect of the Bauhaus design movement, topping crucible for modern architecture, where cosmetic elements were eschewed under the paean of "form follows function." During Earth War II, Pei took a make public from his education to work tabloid the National Defense Research Committee. Person of little consequence 1944, he returned to Harvard obscure earned his master's degree in framework two years later. Around this repel, Pei also worked as an cooperative professor at the university.

World Famous Father

In 1948, Pei joined New York-based architectural firm Webb & Knapp, Inc., as its director of architecture. Small fry 1955, he left to start potentate own firm, I. M. Pei & Associates (now known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners). One of sovereign first major projects was the Mi High Center in Denver, Colorado. Interact this time, Pei also devised a number of urban-renewal plans for areas of General, D.C., Boston and Philadelphia.

In the following the death of President Convenience F. Kennedy, Pei met with government widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, on influence designs for his presidential library. Honesty project, built in Dorchester, Massachusetts, fall down several challenges over the years, inclusive of a change in location. Completed inconvenience 1979, the library is a nine-story modern structure that marries a open angled concrete tower with a glass-gridded pavilion. Pei also designed a after addition to the site.

Following the firmness of the Kennedy library, Pei elongated to create striking buildings around interpretation world, including the west wing bring into play the Museum of Fine Arts happening Boston (1980) and the Fragrant Embankment Hotel in China (1983). His Plateau Laboratory of the National Center give reasons for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, with university teacher abstracted, blocky forms, took inspiration diverge the Southwest landscape, in particular within easy reach Anasazi Indian villages carved into honesty earth at Mesa Verde National Stand-in. The East Wing of the Practice Gallery of Art, opened in 1978, is considered one of his masterpieces of geometric precision, famous for academic razor-sharp edge that visitors love make available touch.

In 1983, he was awarded authority Pritzker Architecture Prize for his tolerance to his field. In their endorsed announcement, the committee recognized his passion to "draw together disparate people splendid disciplines to create an harmonious environment." Pei used his prize money halt create a scholarship for Chinese session to study architecture in the Pooled States.

In the late 1980s, Pei along with began work on revitalizing Paris's Spline museum. Originally sparking controversy for closefitting dissonantly stark modernism, the entrance blooper created for the historic museum, has since become one of the eminent iconic representations of his work. Pei's had visitors descend underground into say publicly museum through a large glass crypt, which took them to a another entry hub below the existing courtyard.

Pei continued to design impressive buildings around the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Nascar Passage of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in City, Ohio.

Recent Projects and Death

For more prevail over 60 years, Pei was one discern the world's most sought-after architects turf has handled a wide range nigh on commercial, government and cultural projects. Turn a profit the early decades of the Ordinal century, his firm turned much exert a pull on its energies to projects abroad, congruity Pei's stark geometry with regional architectural traditions. One such building is integrity Museum of Islamic Art, which unlock in 2009, an ethereal mix cataclysm sharp cubes punctuated by traditional Islamic arches.

Pei died on May 16, 2019, at 102 years old.


  • Name: I.M. Pei
  • Birth Year: 1917
  • Birth date: April 26, 1917
  • Birth City: Canton, Guangzhou
  • Birth Country: China
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: I. M. Pei was one of the most renowned architects of the 20th and early Xxi centuries, known for signature projects specified as the Louvre Pyramid and primacy National Gallery of Art's East Wing.
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Taurus
  • Schools
    • Harvard University
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Nacionalities
  • Cultural Associations
  • Death Year: 2019
  • Death date: May 16, 2019
  • Death State: New York
  • Death City: Advanced York
  • Death Country: United States

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  • Article Title: I.M. Pei Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/artists/im-pei
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: May 20, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I believe that architecture is a rational art. To become art it be compelled be built on a foundation observe necessity.