I.

M PEI
FINAL REPORT: HOW HE CREATES IDENTITY IN HIS WORKS

Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese-

American architect. I.M. Pei's unique take on modernism in

architecture has informed his prolific work. His projects, from

museums to skyscrapers, show a belief in the idea that form

follows intention and that modernism serves as a bridge of

present and past.

As a student of Le Corbusier and modernist architecture, I.M. Pei

took the core belief of modernism that form follows function,

and added his own interpretation. Pei believes that form follows

intention (which incorporates function). His work reflects this

philosophy by his incorporation of functional symbols into all his

great works.

He has not only transformed our buildings into modern style, but

has also impacted people across the world through his

architecture. His buildings started to be viewed as sculpture

themselves. He explored new ways of constructing buildings and

invented new forms for a modern society to live in.

He also rejected the Internationalist vision of architecture as

future vs. past, and instead saw his role as creating a bridge

between the present and the past. These core beliefs explain

how Pei designed a wide variety of structures that are all

consistent to his vision.

His masterful implementation of basic geometric form into the

design of his buildings is another point of interest that

contributed to his originality.

Pei also created identity through his architecture by using

elements from the past and merging them with present modern

techniques.

Suzhou Museum has been one of I.M Pei’s greatest works of all

times. It has been recognized as a collision of classical and

modern, and combined quite well with each other. This called

"Designed for China" Museum conveyed a good architectural style

combination between Chinese historic and contemporary fashion.

As a modernism master in architectural world, I. M. Pei has

always been doing innovative works. He likes to walk a way

between tradition and modern world. Contribute to Pei's original

design concept of "Chinese style with innovation; Suzhou style

with creativity", the Suzhou Museum not only became an

architectural landmark in Suzhou, but also a significant

architecture bridging Chinese traditional architectural design

with modern concepts.

This design of this new museum visually complements the

traditional architecture of ZhongWangFu.

The façade of Suzhou Museum has whitewashed plaster walls

with dark gray clay tiles, which is the traditional construction

characteristic of Old Suzhou. The new Suzhou Museum adopts it

as the primary colors. Instead of using traditional clay tiles, the

roof is made of gray granites with uniformed color. Modern steel

structure is applied to the new museum to replace traditional

roof beam structure. The style of roof was inspired by traditional

roof of Old Suzhou architecture and redesigned into geometric

shapes.
The interior is decorated with wooden frames and white ceiling.

In addition, metal sunscreens with wooden panels instead of

traditional carved windows lattice are introduced to allow more

lights and make the new museum more sophisticated. This design

makes the natural lighting shapes more complicated and

fascinating when it shines in. Let lighting to design, which is a

famous saying by I.M.Pei.

The garden is another beautiful architectural wonder here.

Almost all of the Chinese elements, such as bridges, pavilions,

ponds, bamboo, whitewashed plaster walls and fake mountains

are present. It looks like a painting rather than a garden. Pei has
fully considered the cultural identity of garden and landscape

design of Suzhou, and adopted the style of classical garden in

Suzhou. He has also designed various exquisite courtyards the

layout of this museum, which made the inner and outer space

connected, as well as connected the nature and architecture.

The influences behind the design of the Suzhou Museum are some

famous Chinese elements. Although this museum is a modern

style building, it bridges traditional Chinese architectural design

with modern concepts.

According to Pei's original design concept of "Chinese style with

innovation; Suzhou style with creativity"; and the idea of "not too

high, not too large and not too abrupt," the museum has adopted

the typical architecture style in Suzhou -- the whitewashed

plaster walls and the dark gray clay tiles. As can be seen that Pei

took the cultural elements from the old local buildings then put

them into a modern style.

Some of his other famous works in which he has tried to create

identities include the Miho museum.

In this museum he has tried to create the identity of a Shangri-

La.
The story behind this is based on a fisherman who lived in

Eastern China.

One day, as this man was rowing up a mountain stream, he came

across a peach orchard in full bloom. At the end of the orchard,

he noticed a ray of light coming from a small cave at the foot of

a mountain. Once inside, he found himself on a narrow road, but

traveling deeper, a splendid view suddenly opened before him.

There was the Shangri-La.

The museum has also been designed on a similar concept. Only

after climbing a gently sloping path lined with verdant trees,

passing through a tunnel, and crossing a bridge can the Miho

Museum be found. The museum is the expression of that

moment, the moment that the museum suddenly comes into your

eyes. It is just like a script.

Another such example is the Museum of Islamic arts. Pie found

that influences of climate and culture led to many

interpretations of Islamic architecture, but none evoked the true

essence. So he finally took inspiration from the Mosque of Ahmad

Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt (9th century) to construct this museum.

In the ‘austerity and simplicity” of the sabil, Pei stated, he found

“severe shades of color” the sabil offered – an almost Cubist

expression of geometric progression, which evoked an abstract

vision of the key design elements of Islamic architecture. Pie also

used ceilings that were embellished with intricate coffered

domes, and laid perforated metal chandeliers in the atrium to

give it an Islamic identity.

Pei also played with the orientation of the building. He

constructed the building in such a way that from the moment one

enter the premises, one can feel the urge to move forward, and

that movement forward eventually leads one to the image Qatar

wants everyone to remember: the rising skyline of Doha.

The circulation is simple, a large atrium with walkways around.

However, no matter where one stands, the eyes always go to

that humongous window giving one the image that they want

everyone to see.

The Louvre pyramid, Paris is another example of the same. The

pyramid used as an entrance in the Louvre's courtyard has the

exact same proportions as the Great Pyramid of Giza. The choice

of this figure also serves as a reminder of the importance of the

Egyptian antiquities collection inside the museum.

For Pei, the glass pyramid provided a symbolic entry that had

historical and figural importance that reinforced the main entry.

Not only is the entire structure functional, it also uses the record

needle to symbolize that the musicians inside still reverberate

through the contemporary world. All of these minute details add

to the architecture of the building and in turn create identity.

To conclude one can say that Pei uses inspiration from the past

to stimulate identity in the present as all his major works have

been inspired by previously built famous structures.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.dezeen.com/2017/03/12/photography-yueqi-

jazzy-li-im-pei-museum-islamic-art-doha-architecture/

 http://www.archdaily.com/88705/ad-classics-le-grande-

louvre-i-m-pei

 http://www.archdaily.com/639108/miho-museum-i-m-pei

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhou_Museum

 http://www.biography.com/people/im-pei-9436323

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei