I was born in Suzhou, a city not very far from Shanghai. It's a very interesting town - there is a long artist's tradition there, especially during the Ming and Ching dynasties, which produced many, many scholars and painters and so forth. That's where my family lived for 600, 700 years.

I. M. Pei

Categorized in : Years Cities Artist

Architecture is the very mirror of life.You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.

eye reflection life

I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.

foundation believe art

Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it’s not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don’t want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.

times-have-changed roots want

Success is a collection of problems solved. by I. M. Pei

Success is a collection of problems solved.

collections problem

Life is architecture and architecture is the mirror of life. by I. M. Pei

Life is architecture and architecture is the mirror of life.

architecture mirrors life-is

Stop worrying about missed opportunities and start looking for ne... by I. M. Pei

Stop worrying about missed opportunities and start looking for new ones.

missed-opportunity worry opportunity

It is not an individual act, architecture. You have to consider your client. Only out of that can you produce great architecture. You cannot work in the abstract

individual architecture clients

I want to bring out the best in a community and contribute someth... by I. M. Pei

I want to bring out the best in a community and contribute something of permanent value.

community permanent want

You cannot defend your design without knowing what you're designi... by I. M. Pei

You cannot defend your design without knowing what you're designing for.

design knowing

Design is something you have to put your hand to. by I. M. Pei

Design is something you have to put your hand to.

design hands

Great artists need great clients. by I. M. Pei

Great artists need great clients.

clients artist needs

Let's do it right. This is for the ages. by I. M. Pei

Let's do it right. This is for the ages.

age

Be the best, not necessarily the original. by I. M. Pei

Be the best, not necessarily the original.

being-the-best originals

I didn't want to think about a project that I couldn't finish. That's a kind of temptation. One has to realize one's limitations. Why kid yourself?

temptation kids thinking

I've been active all my life. In 1990 I retired from my firm, I.M. Pei & Partners, and for two years I didn't do much. Then I started to get kind of antsy, so I decided, I'm going to do some more work. And I chose to do work outside the U.S. because I've spent 45 years here and I wanted to learn more about what's happening in the rest of the world.

work-out two years

I know something about the civilization of China, with my background, obviously, and I think I know something about American history. But that's about all. And I've traveled all over the world, and for a long time I didn't know very much about it, really.

civilization long thinking

François Mitterrand was a student of architecture, he had done a lot of research before he called me. He said, "You did something special at the National Gallery of Art in Washington - you brought the new and the old together." But John Russell Pope finished the West Building in 1941, so when the East Building opened it was only about 40 years old. But the Louvre is 800 years old! A much bigger design challenge.

design years art

I cannot work and listen to Wagner at the same time, nor Mahler, nor Beethoven's late quartets. I enjoy listening to Chopin's piano music when I work.

mahler piano-music listening

Qatar does not have much history, it's a new emirate. So I couldn't draw on the history of the country; its history is really just being a desert. But I thought, the one thing I must learn about for this project is the Islamic faith. So I read about Islam and Islamic architecture, and the more I studied the more I realized where the best Islamic buildings were.

qatar islamic country

At the beginning, I thought the best Islamic work was in Spain - the mosque in Cordoba, the Alhambra in Granada. But as I learned more, my ideas shifted. I traveled to Egypt, and to the Middle East many times.I found the most wonderful examples of Islamic work in Cairo, it turns out. I'd visited mosques there before, but I didn't see them with the same eye as I did this time. They truly said something to me about Islamic architecture.

egypt islamic eye