I. M. Pei: Life is architecture, the first retrospective of Ieoh Ming Pei on M+

M+, Asia’s first 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 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. The exhibition will open to the public until Sunday, 5 January 2025 in the museum’s West Gallery.

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. His life and work weave together a tapestry of power dynamics, geopolitical complexities, and cultural traditions worldwide.

South Ho Siu Nam. View of the old Bank of China and Chater Garden from Bank of China Tower (1982–1989), Hong Kong. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by South Ho Siu Nam.

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 features more than 400 objects, many of them never been exhibited before. These include original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and other archival documentation from institutional and private holdings.

The retrospective takes an expanded and detailed look at the architect through six areas: his upbringing; approach to cities; engagement with art; relationship with clients; masterful use of geometry, materials, and structure; as well as deep reflection on the past.

Section 1. Pei’s Cross-Cultural Foundations

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.

I. M. Pei. Un club de banqueros en Hong Kong, proyecto de cuarto año de estudiante en el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts. 1938-1939. Fotografía por Museo del MIT. Cortesía por Museo del MIT. — I. M. Pei. A Bankers’ Club in Hong Kong, fourth-year student project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1938–1939. Photograph by MIT Museum. Courtesy of MIT Museum.

Section 2. Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment

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.

I. M. Pei explica su propuesta para el nuevo centro de la ciudad de Oklahoma a un funcionario municipal con una maqueta de presentación. Hacia 1964. Fotografía por The Oklahoman – USA TODAY NETWORK. — I. M. Pei explaining his proposal for Oklahoma City’s new downtown to a city official with a presentation model. ca.1964. Photograph by The Oklahoman – USA TODAY NETWORK.

Section 3. Art and Civic Form

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.

J. Henderson Barr (ilustrador). I. M. Pei & Associates. Representación del Museo de Arte Herbert F. Johnson (1968-1973) visto desde el Arts Quad, Universidad de Cornell, Ithaca, Nueva York. ca.1968, lápiz sobre papel vitela. Fotografía por Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Imagen cortesía por M+, Hong Kong, fotografiada con autorización. — J. Henderson Barr (illustrator). I. M. Pei & Associates. Rendering of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (1968–1973) viewed from the Arts Quad, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. ca.1968, pencil on vellum. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, photographed with permission.

Section 4. Power, Politics, and Patronage

Power, Politics, and Patronage reveal 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.

Calvin Tsao. Funcionarios observando una maqueta del Hotel Fragrant Hill (1979-1982), Pekín. 1979. Fotografía por Calvin Tsao. — Calvin Tsao. Officials viewing a model of Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing. 1979. Photograph by Calvin Tsao.

Section 5. Material and Structural Innovation

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.

Webb & Knapp. Elevación de la entrada y los pisos inferiores, Helix (1948-1949; no construida), Nueva York. ca.1948, acuarela sobre papel. Fotografía por Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Imagen cortesía por M+, Hong Kong, digitalizada con autorización. — Webb & Knapp. Elevation of entrance and lower floors, Helix (1948–1949; unbuilt), New York. ca.1948, watercolour on paper. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

Section 6. Reinterpreting History through Design

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.

Chen Chi-kwan (ilustrador). I. M. Pei Architect. Perspectiva del interior del patio del dormitorio de mujeres, Universidad de Tunghai (1954-1963), Taichung. ca.1955, impresión reprográfica. Fotografía por Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Imagen cortesía por M+, Hong Kong, digitalizada con autorización. — Chen Chi-kwan (illustrator). I. M. Pei Architect. Perspective inside courtyard of Women’s Dormitory, Tunghai University (1954–1963), Taichung. ca.1955, reprographic print. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

I. M. Pei. Section drawing of the Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai, master’s in architecture thesis at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. 1946. Courtesy of the Frances Loeb Library. Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

J. Henderson Barr (illustrator). I. M. Pei & Associates. Rendering of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (1968–1973) viewed from the Arts Quad, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. ca.1968, pencil on vellum. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, photographed with permission.

I. M. Pei. Standardized Propaganda Units for War Time and Peace Time China: No. 3 Elevations. 1940, ink on paper. Photograph by MIT Museum. Image courtesy of MIT Museum.

Installation view of I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, 2024. Photograph by Lok Cheng. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.

Installation view of I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, 2024. Photograph by Dan Leung. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.

I. M. Pei’s son, the architect Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, partner and founder of PEI Architects in M+’s Special Exhibition I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture. Photograph by Winnie Yeung @ Visual Voices. Image Courtesy of M+, Hong Kong.

Pei family portrait in the garden of Tsuyee Pei’s house, which belonged to the Bank of China, on Rue Ferguson (now Wukang Road) in Shanghai’s French Concession. Back row: I. M. Pei (third from left), Tsuyee Pei (sixth from left). Seated: I. M. Pei’s grandfather Bei Li-tai (fifth from left). 1935. © All rights reserved. Courtesy of Patricia Pei.

I. M. Pei. A Bankers’ Club in Hong Kong, fourth-year student project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1938–1939. Photograph by MIT Museum. Courtesy of MIT Museum.

‘Chinese Art Museum in Shanghai’, article by Walter Gropius in vol. 28 of L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui. Published February 1950. Courtesy of Bibliothèque d’architecture contemporaine - Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine.

Robert Schwartz (illustrator). Webb & Knapp (developer). Rendering of early scheme, Southwest Washington Urban Redevelopment (1953–1959), Washington, D.C. ca.1957. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

I. M. Pei explaining his proposal for Oklahoma City’s new downtown to a city official with a presentation model. ca.1964. Photograph by The Oklahoman – USA TODAY NETWORK.

Robert Schwartz (illustrator). I. M. Pei & Associates. Rendering of Tête de la Défense (1970–1971; unbuilt), Paris. 1971, tempera on board. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

View of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Centre (1970–1976) amid skyscrapers in Singapore’s financial district. ca.1976. M+, Hong Kong. Gift of BEP Akitek, 2019. Photograph by BEP Akitek.

Helmut Jacoby (illustrator). I. M. Pei & Associates. Rendering of museum and public plaza, Everson Museum of Art (1961–1968), Syracuse, New York. ca.1961, ink on paper. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, photographed with permission.

Marc Riboud. I. M. Pei and Zao Wou-Ki in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. ca.1990. Photograph by Marc Riboud/Fonds Marc Riboud au MNAAG/Magnum Photos.

Cai Guo-Qiang. Chun Qiu: Project for the New Galleries of Suzhou Museum, Invited by I. M. Pei. 2006, gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as nine-panel screen. Photograph by Cai Guo-Qiang. Courtesy of the Artist.

Naho Kubota. View of NCAR on the mesa, National Center for Atmospheric Research (1961–1967), Boulder, Colorado. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Naho Kubota.

Calvin Tsao. Officials viewing a model of Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing. 1979. Photograph by Calvin Tsao.

Paul Stevenson Oles (illustrator) I. M. Pei & Partners. Rendering of the pyramid entrance on Cour Napoléon in the daytime, Grand Louvre (1983–1993), Paris. 1984, pencil on paper. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

I. M. Pei & Partners. Interior elevation of spaceframe for pyramid curtain wall, Grand Louvre (1983–1993), Paris. ca.1986, ink on vellum. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

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

Giovanna Silva. Interior view of Cour Puget of the Richelieu wing, Grand Louvre (1983–1993), Paris. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Giovanna Silva.

Giovanna Silva. A bride’s photoshoot captured from Passage Richelieu, Grand Louvre (1983–1993), Paris. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Giovanna Silva.

Peter Rosen. First Person Singular: I. M. Pei, 1997. Image courtesy of the director.

Webb & Knapp. Elevation of entrance and lower floors, Helix (1948–1949; unbuilt), New York. ca.1948, watercolour on paper. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

Webb & Knapp. Photograph of model, Hyperboloid (1954–1956; unbuilt), New York. 1956. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

Lee Kuo-Min. View of glazed facade towards the altar, Luce Memorial Chapel (1954–1963), Tunghai University, Taichung. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Lee Kuo-Min.

Construction view of Miho Institute of Aesthetics Chapel (2008–2012), Shigaraki, Shiga. ca. 2011. Photograph by Higashide Photo Studio.

South Ho Siu Nam. View of facade, Bank of China Tower (1982–1989), Hong Kong. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by South Ho Siu Nam.

I. M. Pei & Partners. Site plan of Bank of China Tower (1982–1989), Hong Kong. 1983, inkjet on paper. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

Liu Heung Shing. I. M. Pei with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and guests at Fragrant Hill Hotel’s opening. 1982. Photograph by Liu Heung Shing.

I. M. Pei outside John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Dorchester, Massachusetts. 1979. Photograph by Ted Dully/The Boston Globe via Getty Images.

Naho Kubota. View towards the knife-edge prow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art East Building (1968–1978), Washington, D.C. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Naho Kubota.

Mohamed Somji. View of museum from the public promenade, Museum of Islamic Art (2000–2008), Doha. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Mohamed Somji.

Mohamed Somji. View of the faceted central structure, Museum of Islamic Art (2000–2008), Doha. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Mohamed Somji.

Yoneda Tomoko. View from Miho Museum’s main hall, with the top of the Joy of Angels Bell Tower visible on the far left, Miho Museum (1991–1997), Shigaraki, Shiga. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Yoneda Tomoko.

Photograph of site excavation with the written caption ‘hill to be retained, dirt to be replaced, hill replanted’, Miho Museum (1991–1997), Shigaraki, Shiga. 1995. Container 459 Folder 6, I. M. Pei Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Chen Chi-kwan (illustrator). I. M. Pei Architect. Perspective inside courtyard of Women’s Dormitory, Tunghai University (1954–1963), Taichung. ca.1955, reprographic print. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, digitised with permission.

I. M. Pei & Partners. Model of Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing. ca.1979, paper and acrylic. Gift of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Acquisition in progress. Photograph by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong, photographed with permission.

Pei residence featured in ‘Small-House Perfection’ in vol. 138 of Vogue. Published January 1961. Photograph by Robert Damora, Vogue. Photograph by Condé Nast.

I. M. Pei, Calvin Tsao, and John Morford. Lamp for Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing. ca.1982. metal, glass, and bronze wire. M+, Hong Kong.

Tian Fangfang. The Central Hall’s framed views of the garden’s key features including the stone landscape, Suzhou Museum (2000–2006), Suzhou. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Tian Fangfang.

Naho Kubota. Interior view of living room of an apartment unit, Kips Bay Plaza (1957–1962), New York. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Naho Kubota.

Tian Fangfang. Ink painting by Zao Wou-Ki installed in a room next to the Four Seasons Courtyard of Fragrant Hill Hotel (1979–1982), Beijing. 2021. Commissioned by M+, 2021. Photograph by Tian Fangfang.

Portrait of I. M. Pei taken when he was selected to design the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Dorchester, Massachusetts. 1965. Photograph by John Loengard/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock.

I. M. Pei walking up the stairs at the National Gallery of Art East Building, Washington, D.C. 1978. Photograph by Marc Riboud/Fonds Marc Riboud au MNAAG/Magnum Photos.

Portrait of I. M. Pei. 1976. Irving Penn. Vogue. Photograph by Condé Nast.

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More information

Label

Exhibition

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«I. M. Pei: Life is Architecture».

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Curators

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Shirley Surya, Curator, Design and Architecture, M+ and Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut (New Institute), Rotterdam, supported by Naomi Altman and Iris Ng, Curatorial Assistants, Design and Architecture, M+.

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Promotor

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M+.

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Dates

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Saturday, 29 June 2024 to Sunday, 5 January 2025.

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Schedule

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Tuesday to Thursday and weekends.- 10:00–18:00.
Friday.- 10:00–22:00.
Monday.- Closed.

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Location

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West Gallery, M+. Cultural district of West Kowloon, 38 Museum Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Ieoh Ming Pei

I.M. Pei was born in China on April 26, 1917, in Canton, Guangzhou, China. When he was 17 years old, he traveled to the United States, initially attending the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia before transferring to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1940.

Pei soon continued his studies at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he had the opportunity to study with German architect and founder of the Bauhaus design movement Walter Gropius. During World War II, Pei took a break from his education to work for the National Defense Research Committee. In 1944, he returned to Harvard and earned his master's degree in architecture two years later. Around this time, Pei also worked as an assistant professor at the university.

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

In the years following the death of President John F. Kennedy, Pei met with his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, on the designs for his presidential library. The project, built in Dorchester, Massachusetts, met several challenges over the years, including a location change. Completed in 1979, the library is a nine-story modern structure that features glass and concrete. Pei also designed a later addition to the site.

Following the dedication of the Kennedy Library, Pei continued to create wondrous buildings around the world, including the west wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (1980) and the Fragrant Hill Hotel in China (1983). In 1983, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize for his contributions to his field. In their official announcement, the committee recognized his ability to "draw together disparate people and disciplines to create a harmonious environment." Pei used his prize money to create a scholarship for Chinese students to study architecture in the United States.

During this time, Pei also began work on revitalizing Paris's Louvre museum. The new, and controversial, entrance he created for the world-famous structure has since become one of the most iconic representations of his work. Pei had visitors descend into the museum through a large glass pyramid, which took them to a new level below the existing courtyard.

Pei continued to design impressive buildings during the 1990s, including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.