Skip to content
I. M. Pei

File:Itzhak_Perlman_with_I.M._Pei,_architect,_looking_at_model_of_NYC_Convention_Center_(03124v)_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ46868· pop 93· linked from 708 articles

Also known as Ieoh Ming Pei, Yuming Bei, Yü-Ming Pei, Bèi Yù Míng, Bei Yu Ming, IM Pei, I.M. Pei

Chinese-American architect (1917–2019)

OverviewAI-generated

I. M. Pei (1917–2019) was an architect whose work is associated with the International Style. Born in Guangzhou, he held citizenship in the United States and Taiwan. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Pei’s notable works include the Louvre Pyramid, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Bank of China Tower, and the Luce Memorial Chapel. His works are held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Pei received the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the National Medal of Arts, the Royal Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He spoke English and Chinese. Pei died in New York City.

Synthesized by Vinony from 33 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, TMDb, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1917
Works
10

Top works

  • The World Trade Center
  • Miho Museum and the work of I.M. Pei
  • I. M. Pei essences
  • 40-story waterfront towers approved
  • Museum of Chinese art for Shanghai

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Ieoh Ming Pei (Chinese: 貝聿銘), FAIA, RIBA[2] (English: /joʊ.mɪŋ.ˈpeɪ/ yoh-ming-PAY[3][4] 26 April 1917 – 16 May 2019) was a Chinese-American architect. Born in Guangzhou but raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and…

Known for

  • François Mitterrand : Bâtisseur de mystères — Self2017
  • I.M. Pei: Building China Modern2010
  • America: The Story of Us — Self2010
  • A Cat's Tale — TV Personality2008
  • My Architect: A Son's Journey — Self2003
  • Berlin Babylon — Self2001
  • First Person Singular: I.M. Pei — Himself1997
  • Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper — Self1997
  • Bauhaus in America — Self1995
  • National Gallery Builds — Self1978

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Quotes

  • I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity. Freedom of expression, for me, consists in moving within a measured range that I assign to each of my undertakings. How instructive it is to remember Leonardo da Vinci's counsel that "strength is born of constraint and dies from freedom."
  • For me the important distinction is between a stylistic approach to the design; and an analytical approach giving the process of due consideration to time, place, and purpose ... My analytical approach requires a full understanding of the three essential elements ... to arrive at an ideal balance among them.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Ieoh Ming Pei (/ˌjoʊ mɪŋ ˈpeɪ/ YOH ming PAY; Chinese: 貝聿銘; pinyin: Bèi Yùmíng; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was a Chinese-American architect.

Born in Guangzhou into a Chinese family, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, but quickly transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Unhappy with the focus on Beaux-Arts architecture at both schools, he spent his free time researching emerging architects, especially Le Corbusier.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “I. M. Pei” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (13)