Remembering I. M. Pei's influence on architecture

The first full-scale retrospective of one of the greatest architects of our time, M+’s I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture offers a grand tour of some of the world’s most iconic buildings. Co-curator Shirley Surya talks to Jaz Kong about Pei’s enduring – and undeniable – influence 

What do you admire most about I. M. Pei? His architectural works? His magic touch with materials? His ability to break through cultural barriers? The Pritzker Prize winner’s talents are certainly unparalleled, and M+’s special exhibition, I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, stands in testament to that fact. But Pei’s son Sandi, who together with his brother Didi co-founded PEI Architects in 1990, perhaps says it best: “My dad is a humanist first, architect second.” 

Born in Guangzhou in 1917, Ieoh Ming Pei grew up in Hong Kong and Shanghai before studying at MIT and Harvard, and eventually becoming one of the greatest architects of the 20th and 21st centuries. While he designed dozens of remarkable buildings over his 70- year career, Pei is best known for such high-profile projects as the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, DC, the modernisation of the Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. 

Besides the Pritzker – whose US$100,000 award Pei used to create a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study architecture in the US provided they return to China to work – his long list of honours includes the Gold Medal for Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture from the Japan Art Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.