Career
1948–1956: beginnings with Webb and Knapp
In the spring of 1948 Pei was hired by New York real estate magnate William Zeckendorf and joined an architectural firm that worked to design buildings across the country for the firm Webb and Knapp, owned by Zeckendorf. Pei found Zeckendorf's personality to be the opposite of his own: his new boss was known for his high-pitched voice and harsh attitude. However, they became good friends and Pei found the experience enriching on a personal level. Zeckendorf was well connected politically, and Pei enjoyed learning about the social life of New York City planners.[35]
His first project for Webb and Knapp was an apartment building funded by the 1949 Housing Act. Pei's design was based on a circular tower with concentric rings. The sectors closest to the central support pillar housed services and circulation areas, while the apartments were located outwards. Zeckendorf loved the design and even showed it to Le Corbusier when he met with him. However, the cost of such an unusual design was too high, and the building It never went beyond being a model.[36].
Finally, Pei first saw his architecture come to life in 1949,[37] when he designed a two-story corporate building for Gulf Oil in Atlanta, 131 Ponce de León Avenue. The building was demolished in February 2013 although the main facade was preserved. The use of marble for the exterior curtain wall was praised by Architectural Forum magazine.[38] Early in his career, Pei's designs replicated the work of Mies van der Rohe, as well as his own weekend house built in Katonah "Katonah (New York)") in 1952. Soon Pei was so inundated with projects that he asked Zeckendorf for assistants, who he chose from his associates at the GSD, such as Henry N. Cobb and Ulrich Franzen. Together they set to work on several projects, such as the Roosevelt Field&action=edit&redlink=1 "Roosevelt Field" shopping center. commercial) (not yet written)"). The team also redesigned the Webb and Knapp office building, transforming Zeckendorf's office into a circular space with teak walls and a glass clerestory. They also installed a control panel on the desk that allowed his boss to control the lighting in his office. The project took a year to complete and went over budget, but Zeckendorf was delighted with the result.[39]
In 1952 Pei and his team began working on a series of projects in Denver. The first of these was the Mile High Center, in which he made the central building occupy less than 25% of the plot; the rest housed an exhibition hall and plazas with fountains.[41] A block away, Pei's team also redesigned Courthouse Square, which combined office, retail, and hotel spaces. These projects helped Pei conceptualize architecture as part of urban geography. "I learned the process of urbanization," he later said, "and about the city as a living organism."[42] These lessons, he said, would be essential for his later projects.[42]
Pei and his team also designed an urban complex for Washington, D.C., called L'Enfant Plaza in honor of the French-American architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant.[43][44] Pei's partner Araldo Cossutta was the chief architect of the complex's north building (955 L'Enfant Plaza SW) and the south building (490 L'Enfant Plaza SW).[43][44] Vlastimil Koubek He was the architect of the east building (L'Enfant Plaza Hotel), located at 480 L'Enfant Plaza SW) and the central building (475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, now the headquarters of the United States Postal Service). and a significant reduction in scale.[45].
In 1955 the Pei group took a step towards its institutional independence from Webb and Knapp by founding a new firm called I. M. Pei & Associates, a name that was later changed to I. M. Pei & Partners. They thus gained the freedom to work for other companies, but continued to work mainly for Zeckendorf. The new study was distinguished by its use of detailed models. In the Kips Bay residential area on the east side of Manhattan, Pei designed the Kips Bay Towers, two large apartment towers with setback windows—to provide shade and privacy—arranged in an orderly grid. Pei was personally involved in the construction, even going so far as to inspect the bags of concrete to check the consistency of the color.[46].
The company continued its urban focus with the Society Hill project in downtown Philadelphia. Pei designed Society Hill Towers, a three-building residential block that injected cubist design into the neighborhood's century-old setting. As with previous projects, abundant green spaces were central to Pei's vision, and he also added traditional petit hôtels to help soften the transition between classical and modern design.[47].
Between 1958 and 1963 Pei and Ray Affleck") developed a key block of downtown Montreal through a phased process that included one of Pei's most admired buildings in the Commonwealth, the cruciform tower known as Royal Bank Plaza (Place Ville Marie). According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, "its grand plaza and office buildings, designed by the famous international architect I. M. Pei, helped set new architectural standards in Canada over the years. sixties… The tower's smooth aluminum and glass surface and its clean, unadorned geometric form demonstrate Pei's adherence to the mainstream of century modern design.
Although these projects were satisfying, Pei wanted to make an independent name for himself. In 1959 he was contacted by MIT to design a building for its Earth sciences program. In his Green Building project, Pei continued the grid layout of Kips Bay and Society Hill. The pedestrian walkway on the ground floor, however, was prone to sudden gusts of wind, which embarrassed Pei. "Here I was from MIT," he said, "and I didn't know about wind tunnel effects." At the same time, he designed the Luce Memorial Chapel at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. This imposing structure, commissioned by the same organization that had run his secondary school in Shanghai, broke dramatically with the cubist grid patterns of his previous urban projects.[49][50].
The challenge of coordinating these projects took an artistic toll on Pei, as he was responsible for securing new commissions and overseeing the projects. As a result, he felt disconnected from real creative work. "Design is something you have to put your hand on," he said. "While my people had the luxury of doing one job at a time, I had to keep track of the entire company."[51] Their dissatisfaction reached its peak at a time when financial problems began to affect Zeckendorf's company. I. M. Pei and Associates officially broke with Webb and Knapp in 1960, which benefited Pei artistically but hurt him personally, as he had developed a close friendship with Zeckendorf, and both were sad to see their paths part.[52]
NCAR and related projects
Pei was able to return to design when in 1961 he was commissioned by Walter Orr Roberts to design the new Mesa Laboratory for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) near Boulder, Colorado. This project differed from Pei's previous urban works: it was located in an open area in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. He toured the area with his wife, visiting different buildings and inspecting the natural environments. He was impressed by the Academy of the United States Air Force in Colorado Springs, but felt that she was "separated from nature."[55].
The conceptualization phase was very important for Pei, as it presented him with the need and opportunity to break with the Bauhaus tradition. He later recalled the long periods of time he spent in the area: "I remembered the places I had seen with my mother when I was a child, the Buddhist retreats located on the top of a mountain. There, in the mountains of Colorado, I tried to listen to the silence again, as my mother had taught me. Researching the area became a kind of religious experience for me."[53] Pei was also inspired by the carved mountain dwellings of the Anasazi in Mesa Verde National Park; he wanted the buildings to exist in harmony with their natural surroundings.[56] To this end, he called for a rock treatment process that could make the color of the buildings match that of the nearby mountains. He also placed the complex facing the city, and designed a long, winding and indirect access road.[57]
Roberts did not like Pei's initial designs, calling them "just a bunch of towers."[58] Roberts made this comment as typical of scientific experimentation, rather than artistic criticism; However, Pei was left frustrated. His second attempt, however, fit perfectly with Roberts' vision: a spaced series of clustered buildings, joined by lower structures and complemented by two underground levels. The complex uses many cubist design elements, and walkways are arranged to increase the likelihood of chance encounters between colleagues.[59][60].
Once the laboratory was built, several problems arose with its construction. Roof leaks caused difficulties for investigators, and shifting clay soil beneath the complex caused cracks in the buildings, which were expensive to repair. However, both the architect and the project manager were satisfied with the final result. Pei referred to the NCAR complex as his "breakout building", and remained friends with Roberts until the scientist died in March 1990.[61]
The success of the NCAR brought renewed attention to Pei's design capabilities. For this reason, he was hired to work on several projects, such as the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, Syracuse, New York, the Sundrome terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and the New College of Florida residence halls.[62]
Kennedy Library
After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, his family and friends discussed building a library that would serve as an appropriate memorial. A committee was formed to advise Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline, who would make the final decision. The committee deliberated for months and considered many famous architects.[64] Ultimately, Kennedy chose Pei to design the library, based on two considerations. First, he appreciated the variety of ideas he had used for previous projects. "It seemed like there wasn't just one way to solve a problem," he said. "He seemed to approach each assignment with only himself in mind and then develop a way of making something beautiful." Ultimately, however, Kennedy made his decision based on his personal connection with Pei, saying it was "an emotional decision." He explained: “I had so much potential, like Jack; They were born in the same year. I decided it would be fun to take on the project with him.
The project was plagued with problems from the beginning. The first was its reach. President Kennedy had begun considering the structure of his library shortly after taking office, and wanted to include archives of his administration, a museum of personal artifacts, and a political science institute. Following his assassination, the list was expanded to include a memorial tribute to the late president. The large number of intended uses complicated the design process and caused significant delays.[67].
Pei's first proposed design included a large glass pyramid that would fill the interior with natural light and was intended to represent the optimism and hope that the Kennedy administration had symbolized for many Americans. Jacqueline Kennedy liked the design, but there was opposition in Cambridge (Massachusetts), the first site proposed for the building, from the time the project was announced. Many community members were concerned that the library would become a tourist attraction and cause problems, particularly with traffic congestion. Others were concerned that the design would clash with the architectural style of nearby Harvard Square. In the mid-1970s, Pei attempted to propose a new design, but the library's opponents resisted all his efforts.[68] These events affected Pei, who had sent his three children to attend Harvard, and although he rarely commented on his frustration, it was evident to his wife: "She could tell how tired he was by the way he opened the door at the end of the day," she said. "He dragged his steps. It was very hard for him to see that so many people did not want the building."[69].
Eventually, the project was moved to Columbia Point&action=edit&redlink=1 "Columbia Point (Boston) (not yet redacted), near the University of Massachusetts in Boston"). with a triangular tower and a circular walkway.[70].
The John F. Kennedy Library was dedicated on October 20, 1979. Critics generally liked the building, but the architect was dissatisfied. Years of conflict and compromise had changed the nature of design, and Pei felt that the final result lacked his original passion. "I wanted to give something very special to the memory of President Kennedy," he said in 2000. "It could and should have been a great project."[63] However, Pei's work on the Kennedy project increased his reputation as an architect.[71]
Pei Plan, Oklahoma City
The Pei Plan was a failed urban rezoning initiative designed for downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the 1960s and 1970s. It is the informal name of two related Pei commissions, the Central Business District General Neighborhood Renewal Plan (design completed 1964) and the Central Business District Project I-A Development Plan (design completed 1966). It was formally adopted in 1965, and implemented in several public and private phases during the 1960s and 1970s.
The project included the demolition of hundreds of old downtown buildings in favor of new parking, office and retail developments, as well as public projects such as a convention center and botanical gardens. It was the dominant model for the development of downtown Oklahoma City from its inception until the 1970s. The project generated mixed opinions: it achieved the construction of offices and parking lots but failed to attract the planned commercial and residential developments. Significant public opposition also developed as a result of the destruction of many historic buildings. As a result, the Oklahoma City City Council avoided large-scale downtown development projects during the 1980s and early 1990s, until the passage of the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) initiative in 1993.[72][73].
Cathedral Square, Providence
Another city that considered Pei for its urban renewal around this time was Providence (Rhode Island).[74] In the late 1960s, Providence hired Pei to redesign the Cathedral Square of Saints Peter and Paul (Providence), a formerly bustling square that had become abandoned, as part of a larger ambitious project to redesign Downtown.[74] Pei's new square, inspired by a Greek agora, it was dedicated in 1972.[74] Unfortunately, the city ran out of money before Pei's vision could be fully realized.[74] Additionally, the recent construction of a public housing complex and Interstate 95 had permanently changed the character of the neighborhood.[74] In 1974, The Providence Evening Bulletin called the new plaza Pei a "notorious failure."[74] In 2016, however, the media considered the square to be an abandoned and little-seen "hidden treasure."[74].
Augusta, Georgia
In 1974, the city of Augusta "Augusta (Georgia)") considered Pei and his studio for downtown revitalization.[75] The Chamber of Commerce Building and Bicentennial Park were also built as part of his project.[76] In 1976, Pei designed a distinctive modern penthouse on the roof of the historic Lamar Building"), designed by William Lee Stoddart") in 1916.[77] This attic is a modern interpretation of a pyramid, anticipating Pei's famous Louvre Museum pyramid. It was criticized by architecture critic James Howard Kunstler for being the "atrocity of the month," and he compared it to Darth Vader's helmet.[78] In 1980, Pei and his firm designed the Augusta Civic Center, now known as James Brown Arena.[79]
Dallas City Hall
Kennedy's assassination also indirectly sparked another commission for Pei's studio. In 1964, Dallas' acting mayor, Erik Jonsson, began working to change the city's image. Dallas was remembered as the city where the president was assassinated, but Jonsson launched a program designed to initiate a renovation of the town. One of the goals was a new city hall that could be a "symbol of the town." Jonsson, co-founder of Texas Instruments, was introduced to Pei's work through his partner Cecil Howard Green, who had hired the architect for the Green. Building") from MIT.[82].
Pei's approach to the new Dallas City Hall was similar to other projects: he surveyed the surrounding area and worked to make the building fit into its surroundings. In the case of Dallas, he spent several days meeting with city residents and was impressed by their civic pride. He also noted that the skyscrapers of the financial district dominated views of the city, and attempted to create a building that could stand up to them and represent the importance of the public sector. He spoke of creating a "dialogue between the public and the private with office skyscrapers."[80].
Together with his partner Theodore Musho, Pei developed a design centered on a building with a wider top than the base; The façade slopes at a 34-degree angle, which protects the building from sunlight. There is a plaza before the building, and a series of pillars support it. Its design was inspired by Le Corbusier's Chandigarh (India) Secretariat building. Pei intended to use the considerable overhang to unify the building and the plaza. The project cost much more than initially planned, and took eleven years to complete. A parking lot with capacity for 1,325 vehicles was built under the plaza, and the extra revenue helped finance the construction. The interior of the town hall is large and spacious; Windows in the ceiling above the eighth floor fill the main space with light.[83].
The city of Dallas received the new city hall favorably, and when it officially opened to the public in 1978 it met with unanimous approval among local broadcasters. Pei himself considered the project a success, although he was concerned about the arrangement of its elements. He said, "It's maybe stronger than I would have liked, it has more strength than finesse."[84] He felt that his relative lack of experience had left him without the design tools necessary to refine his vision, but the community liked City Hall enough to commission projects again: over the years he would design five more buildings in the Dallas area.[85]
Hancock Tower, Boston
While Pei and Musho were coordinating the Dallas project, their partner Henry Cobb had taken the reins on an assignment in Boston. The president of John Hancock Insurance), Robert Slater, hired I. M. Pei & Partners to design a building that could eclipse the Prudential Tower, built by his rival company, Prudential Insurance.
After the studio's first project was scrapped because more office space was needed, Cobb developed a new project consisting of a parallelogram-shaped skyscraper, rotated relative to the Trinity Church (Trinity Church (Boston)) and accented by a wedge-shaped cutout on each of the short sides. To minimize visual impact, the building was covered with large reflective glass panels; Cobb said this would make the building the "backdrop" of the older buildings surrounding it.[88] When completed in 1976, Hancock Tower became the tallest building in New England.[89]
Some serious execution problems with the tower became evident almost immediately. Many glass panels broke in a wind storm during its construction in 1973. Some of them broke off and fell to the ground, causing no injuries but causing concern among Boston residents. In response, the entire tower was clad with smaller panels. This significantly increased the cost of the project. Hancock sued the glass suppliers, Libbey-Owens-Ford, and I. M. Pei & Partners, for submitting projects that were "not good or professional."[90] Libbey-Owens-Ford countersued Hancock for defamation, accusing Pei's studio of misusing its materials; I. M. Pei & Partners sued Libbey-Owens-Ford in return. The three companies reached an agreement out of court in 1981.[91].
The project became a liability for Pei's studio. Pei himself refused to talk about him for many years. The pace of new commissions slowed and the studio's architects began to look for opportunities in other countries. Cobb worked in Australia and Pei received commissions in Singapore, Iran and Kuwait. Although it was a difficult time for everyone involved, Pei later patiently reflected on the experience. "Going through this trial made us stronger," he said. "It helped us consolidate ourselves as partners, we did not give up."[92].
East Building of the National Gallery, Washington, D.C.
In the mid-1960s, the directors of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. expressed the need for a new building. Paul Mellon, one of the gallery's major benefactors and a member of its building committee, went to work with his assistant J. Carter Brown")—who would become the gallery's director in 1969—to find an architect. The new structure would be situated to the east of the original building, and had two functions: to provide a large space for public appreciation of various popular collections, and to house offices and archives. They compared the scope of the new facility to the Library of Alexandria. After examining Pei's work at the Des Moines Art Center") in Iowa and the Johnson Museum") at Cornell University, decided to offer him the commission.[93].
Pei took to the project with energy, and set to work with two young architects he had recently hired for his firm, William Pedersen and Yann Weymouth. His first obstacle was the unusual shape of the plot, a trapezoid of land at the intersection between Constitution Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. Inspiration came to Pei in In 1968, when he scribbled a diagram of two triangles on a piece of paper, the larger building would be the public gallery, and the smaller one would house the offices and archives. This triangular shape became a singular vision for the architect. As the start date for construction approached, Pei suggested to his boss that a slightly different approach would make construction easier.
The growing popularity of art museums presented unique challenges for architecture. Mellon and Pei expected large crowds of people to visit the new building, and they designed it accordingly. For this purpose, Pei designed a large covered lobby with enormous skylights. Individual galleries are situated along the periphery, allowing visitors to return to the spacious main hall after visiting each exhibition. Later, a large mobile sculpture "Mobile (sculpture)") by American artist Alexander Calder was placed in the lobby. Pei hoped that the lobby would be "exciting" to the public in the same way as the central hall of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The modern museum, he later said, "must pay greater attention to its educational responsibility, especially for young people."[97]
The materials for the exterior of the building were chosen with careful precision. To match the look and texture of the original gallery's marble walls, the builders reopened the Knoxville, Tennessee, quarry from which the first batch of stone was quarried, and even sought out and hired Malcolm Rice, the quarry worker who had supervised the original 1941 gallery project. The marble was cut into 3-inch-thick blocks and laid out on the concrete foundation, with darker blocks on the bottom and darker blocks. clear at the top.[99].
The East building was inaugurated on May 30, 1978, two days before its public inauguration, with a gala party attended by celebrities, politicians, benefactors and artists. When it opened to the public, popular opinion was enthusiastic. Large crowds visited the new museum, and critics generally expressed their approval. Ada Louise Huxtable wrote in that Pei's building was "a sumptuous statement of the creative accommodation of contemporary art and architecture."[98] The smaller building's acute angle has been a particular note of praise for the public; Over the years it has been stained and worn by the hands of visitors.[100].
Fragrant Hill Hotel, China
After US President Richard Nixon made his famous visit to China in 1972, a wave of exchanges took place between the two countries. One of these was a delegation from the American Institute of Architects sent in 1974, in which Pei participated. It was his first trip to China since he left for America in 1935. He was received favorably, returned his welcome with positive comments, and a series of lectures followed. Pei observed in one of these lectures that since the 1950s Chinese architects had been content to imitate Western styles, and he urged his audience to look to Chinese traditions for inspiration.[102]
In 1978, Pei was asked to start a project for his home country. After inspecting several different locations, Pei fell in love with a valley known as Xiangshan Park, which had formerly served as an imperial garden and hunting reserve. The site was home to a decrepit hotel; Pei was proposed to tear it down and build a new one. As always, he carefully considered the context and use of the project in initiating the project, and concluded that modern styles were inappropriate for the setting. Therefore, he said it was necessary to find "a third via».[104][105].
After visiting his ancestral home in Suzhou, Pei created a design based on some simple but nuanced techniques he admired in traditional Chinese residential buildings. Among these techniques were abundant gardens, integration with nature, and consideration of the relationship between closure and openness. Pei's design included a large central atrium covered with glass panels that functioned similarly to the large central space of his National Gallery East Building. Openings of various shapes in the walls invited guests to view the natural setting in which the hotel stood. Younger Chinese, who expected the building to display some of the cubist style for which Pei was known, were disappointed, but the new hotel was better received by architects and government officials.[106]
The hotel, which has 325 rooms and a four-story central atrium, was designed to fit perfectly into its natural surroundings. The trees in the area were of special interest, and particular care was taken to cut down as few of them as possible. He worked with a Suzhou expert to preserve and renovate a water maze from the original hotel, one of only five in the entire country. Pei was also very meticulous with the arrangement of elements in the garden behind the hotel; He even insisted on transporting 210 tons of rocks from southwest China to fit the natural aesthetics. An associate of Pei's later said that he had never seen him so involved in a project.[107]
During construction, a series of errors added to the country's lack of technology to strain relations between architects and builders. While in the United States about two hundred workers would have been used for a similar building, more than three thousand people worked on the Xiangshan Park project. This was mainly because the construction company did not have the sophisticated machines used in other countries. The problems continued for months, until Pei had an uncharacteristic outburst of temper at a meeting with Chinese officials. He later explained that he "screamed and slammed the table" in frustration.[108] The design team noticed a difference in the way the staff worked after the meeting. As the opening approached, however, Pei noted that the hotel still needed work. He started cleaning floors with his wife and ordered his children to make the beds and vacuum the floors. The difficulties of the project took a physical and emotional toll on Pei's family.[109].
Javits Convention Center, New York
When the Xiangshan Park project was nearing completion, Pei began working at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, for which his partner James Freed worked as chief designer. Hoping to create a vibrant community institution in what was then a depressed West Side neighborhood of Manhattan, Freed developed a glass-encased structure with an intricate spatial mesh of metal bars and interconnected spheres.[113]
The construction of the convention center was plagued from the beginning by budget problems and construction errors. City regulations prohibit a general contractor from having final authority over the project, so architects and program director Richard Kahan had to coordinate the large number of builders, plumbers, electricians and other workers. The forged steel globes that would be used in the space mesh arrived at the site with hairline cracks and other defects: twelve thousand of them were rejected. These and other problems caused the media to make comparisons to the disastrous Hancock Tower. A New York official blamed Kahan for the difficulties, stating that the building's architectural flourishes were responsible for delays and financial crises.[114] The Javits Center opened on April 3, 1986, to generally positive reception. During the opening ceremonies, however, neither Freed nor Pei were recognized for their role in the project.
Pyramid of the Louvre Museum, Paris
When François Mitterrand was elected president of France in 1981, he drew up an ambitious plan that included several architectural projects. One of these was the renovation of the Louvre Museum; Mitterrand appointed an official named Émile Biasini to supervise him. After visiting museums in Europe and the United States, including the National Gallery of Art, he asked Pei to join the team. The architect made three secret trips to Paris to determine the viability of the project; only one museum employee knew why he was there.[116][117] Pei eventually accepted that a reconstruction project was not only possible, but necessary for the future of the museum. He thus became the first foreign architect to work on the Louvre.[118].
The new project not only included a renovation of the Cour Napoléon, which is located in the center of the buildings, but also a transformation of the interiors. Pei proposed a central entrance, not unlike the lobby of the National Gallery's East Building, that would connect the three main buildings. Below it would be a complex of several plants dedicated to research, storage and maintenance. In the center of the courtyard he designed a glass and steel pyramid, first proposed for the Kennedy Library, which would serve as an entrance and skylight. This pyramid was reflected by another inverted pyramid below, which reflected sunlight into the room. These designs were partly an homage to the delicate geometry of the famous French landscape architect André Le Nôtre (1613–1700).[119] Pei also considered the pyramid shape to be the most appropriate for achieving stable transparency, and said that it was "most compatible with the architecture of the Louvre, especially with the faceted planes of its roofs."[115]
Biasini and Mitterrand liked the project, but the scope of the renovation displeased the Louvre's director, André Chabaud, who resigned from his position, complaining that the project was "unviable" and posed "architectural risks." ruinous";[122] another accused Mitterrand of "despotism" for imposing "atrocity" on Paris.[122] Pei estimated that 90% of Parisians opposed his design. "I received a lot of angry looks on the streets of Paris," he said.[123] Some criticism had nationalist connotations. For example, one opponent wrote: "I am surprised that a Chinese architect is sought in America to deal with the historic heart of the French capital."[124]
Soon, however, Pei and his team gained the support of several cultural icons, including the conductor Pierre Boulez and Claude Pompidou, the widow of former president Georges Pompidou, in honor of whom another controversial museum was dedicated. In an attempt to calm public anger, Pei followed a suggestion from then-Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac and placed a full-scale wire model of the pyramid in the courtyard. During the four days it was on display, some sixty thousand people visited the site, and some critics eased their opposition after appreciating the proposed scale of the pyramid.[125]
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas
The opening of the Louvre pyramid coincided with four other projects Pei had been working on. This led architecture critic Paul Goldberger to declare 1989 "the year of Pei" in The New York Times.[131] It was also the year in which his firm changed its name to Pei Cobb Freed & Partners") to reflect the growing weight of its partners. At seventy-two years of age, Pei had begun to think about retiring, but he continued to work long hours to bring his designs to light.[132]
One of these projects brought Pei back to Dallas, to design the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The success of the city's performing artists, particularly the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, then directed by Eduardo Mata, sparked the interest of Dallas leaders in creating a modern concert hall that could rival the best halls in Europe. The organizing committee contacted forty-five architects, but Pei initially did not respond, thinking that his work at Dallas City Hall had left a negative impression. However, one of his colleagues on that project insisted that he meet with the committee; Pei did so, and although it would be his first concert hall, the committee voted unanimously to offer him the commission. As one of its members declared: "We were convinced that we would get the best architect in the world to give his best."[134].
The project presented several specific challenges. Because its primary use would be the presentation of live music, the building needed to have a design focused first on acoustics, and then on public access and exterior aesthetics. For this reason, they hired a sound technician to design the interior, who proposed an auditorium shaped like a shoebox "Shoebox (architecture)"), like some of the best European symphony halls, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Musikverein in Vienna. For the adjustments he made to the design, Pei was inspired by the work of German architect Johann Balthasar Neumann, and especially by the Vierzehnheiligen Basilica. He also sought to incorporate part of the style of the Garnier Opera in Paris, designed by Charles Garnier.[135].
Pei placed the shoebox on the corner of the street grid that surrounds it. He connected it to the north with a long rectangular office building, and cut it in half with a set of circles and cones. In his design he tried to reproduce with modern elements the acoustic and visual functions of traditional elements such as filigree "Filigree (craft)"). The project was risky: its objectives were ambitious and any unforeseen acoustic defects would be almost impossible to solve after the building was completed. Pei admitted that he didn't fully know how all the elements would come together. “I can only imagine 60% of the space in this building,” he said during the early phases. "The rest will be as surprising to me as it is to everyone else."[133] As the project developed, costs continually increased and some backers considered withdrawing their support. Billionaire Ross Perot made a $10 million donation on the condition that it be named in honor of Morton H. Meyerson), a longtime patron of art in Dallas.[136]
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
In 1982, Pei received a new offer from the Chinese government. With an eye on the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the British in 1997, Chinese authorities sought Pei's help for a new tower for the local branch of the Bank of China. The Chinese government was preparing for a new wave of foreign engagement and was looking for a tower that represented modernity and economic strength. Given his father's relationship with the bank before the Communists came to power, government officials visited Pei's eighty-nine-year-old father in New York to obtain approval for his son's involvement. Pei then spoke at length with his father about the proposal. Although the architect remembered the difficulties of his experience with the Xiangshan Park Hotel, he decided to accept the commission.[138].
The proposed site for the building in Hong Kong's Central (Hong Kong) district was far from ideal: a tangle of roads surrounded it on three sides. Additionally, the area had housed a Japanese military police barracks during World War II, and was known for the torture of prisoners. The small size of the plot made a tall tower necessary, and Pei had generally avoided such projects; especially in Hong Kong, skyscrapers had no real architectural character. Uninspired and unsure of how to approach the building, Pei went on a weekend vacation to his home in Katonah (New York). There he experimented with a pack of toothpicks until he found a cascade sequence.[139].
Pei felt that his design for the Bank of China Tower had to reflect the "aspirations of the Chinese people."[140] The design he developed for the skyscraper was not only unique in appearance, but also strong enough to pass the city's rigorous wind resistance standards. The building is composed of four triangular axes rising from a square base, supported by a visible truss "Armor (structure)") that distributes the load to the four corners of the base. Using reflective glass, which had become something of a personal signature, Pei organized the façade around diagonal bracing in a union of structure and form that repeats the triangular motif established in the project. At the top, he designed sloping roofs that complemented the building's ascending aesthetic. Some influential feng shui advocates in Hong Kong and China criticized the design, and Pei and government officials responded with some adjustments.[141]
As the tower neared completion, Pei was shocked to witness the government's massacre of unarmed civilians in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. He wrote an op-ed for The New York Times titled "China Will Never Be the Same," in which he said that these killings "torn the hearts of a generation that carries hope for the country's future."[142] The massacre deeply disturbed his entire community. family, and wrote that "China is tainted."[142].
1990–2019: museum projects
As the 1990s began, Pei moved into a less involved role with his studio. The staff had started to dwindle, and Pei wanted to focus on smaller projects that would allow him more creativity. Before he made this change, however, he got to work on his last major project as an active partner: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Considering his work in bastions of high culture such as the Louvre or the National Gallery in Washington, some critics were surprised by his association with what many considered a tribute to low culture. The salon's sponsors, however, sought out Pei specifically for this reason; They wanted the building to have an aura of respectability from the start. As in the past, Pei accepted the commission in part because of the challenge it presented.[144]
Using a glass wall for the entrance, similar in appearance to his Louvre pyramid, Pei clad the exterior of the main building in white metal, and placed a large cylinder on a narrow pillar to serve as a performance space. The combination of off-center envelopes and sloping walls was, in Pei's words, designed to provide a "sense of tumultuous youthful energy, rebelling, stirring."[145]
The building opened in 1995 and was met with moderate praise. The New York Times called it “a good building,” but Pei was among those disappointed with the result. The museum's beginnings in New York, combined with an unclear mission, created a confusing understanding among project leaders of what exactly was needed.[143] Although the city of Cleveland benefited greatly from the new tourist attraction, Pei was unhappy with it.[143]
At the same time, Pei designed a new museum for Luxembourg, the Musée d'art moderne Grand-Duc Jean, commonly known as Mudam. Based on the original shape of the walls of Fort Thüngen, where the museum was located, Pei proposed removing part of the original foundations. However, public resistance to this historic loss forced a review of the project, and it was almost abandoned. The size of the building was reduced by half, and it was set back from the original wall to preserve the foundation. Pei was disappointed with the modifications, but remained involved in the building's construction process.[146]
In 1995, Pei was hired to design an expansion of the German Historical Museum in Berlin. Returning to the challenge of the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington, Pei worked to combine a modern approach with a classical main structure. He described the glass cylinder he added as a "lighthouse",[147] and topped it with a glass roof to allow abundant sunlight to enter the interior. Pei had difficulties with German government officials; his utilitarian approach clashed with his passion for aesthetics. "They thought it only caused problems," he said.[148]
Pei also worked at this time on two projects for a new Japanese religious movement called He was contacted by the movement's spiritual leader, Kaishu Koyama, who impressed the architect with her sincerity and willingness to give him significant artistic freedom. One of the buildings was a bell tower, designed to recall the used when playing traditional instruments such as the . Pei was not familiar with the beliefs of the movement, but explored them to create something meaningful in the tower. In his own words, "it was a search for expression that is not technical at all."[149].