I.M.

PEI
“Great artists need great clients”
CONTENTS:

 EARLY LIFE
 EDUCATION
 DESIGN
PHILOSOPHY
 AWARDS
 PROJECTS

“Stop worrying about missed opportunities

and start looking for new ones.” 
EARLY LIFE :
➢LEOH MING Pei was born on April 26,1917 in CANTON.
➢Moved to HONG KONG one year later.
➢During his early life Pei was drawn more to music and
other cultural forms.
➢At the age of ten, Pei moved with his family to
SHANGHAI.
➢The city's global architectural flavors had a profound
influence on Pei, from the Bund waterfront area to the
PARK HOTEL.
➢The SHIZILIN GARDEN, built in the 14th century by a
Buddhist monk, was especially influential, he found it to
be AN IDEAL PLAYGROUND.
Even as a young boy, I.M noticed how
buildings and nature were combined in the
gardens.
He was especially impressed by the way
light and shadow played together in their
design.
 EDUCATION:
At first he enroll at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Professors at the university based their
teaching in the Beaux-Arts, rooted in the
classical traditions of Greece and Rome.
 Pei was more intrigued by modern
architecture, also got intimidated by the
high level of drafting proficiency shown by
other students.
Then he decided abandon architecture
and transferred to the engineering
program.
Later he joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology
[MIT].
After joining MIT one of his professor commented on his
eye for design and convinced Pei to return to Architecture.
Pei got influenced by the works of Le Corbusier and Frank
Lloyd Wright.
He received his Bachelors of Architecture degree in 1940.
Later he started teaching in Harvard’s Graduate School of
Design , less than a month later, he suspended his work to
join the National Defense Research Committee.
One member of the committee told him; “If you know how
to build you should also know how to destroy.”
Pei returned to Harvard in 1944 and completed his master
in Architecture in 1946.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY:
He is remembered for his buildings, his greatest
influence on the architectural word is his
philosophy of design.
His design integrate aesthetic with functionality,
he epitomizes the resolution of both an artist and
engineer.
Building should be created as living spaces –
spaces of activity and thought- rather that static
monuments.
Interplay with geometry and light.
The relationship between site and building design.
He does not believe that
architecture must find forms to
express the times or that it should
remain isolated from commercial
forces.
He generally designs sophisticated
glass clad buildings loosely related to
high-tech movement.
He frequently works on a large scale
and is renowned for his sharp,
geometric designs.
• “It is not an individual act,
architecture. You have to consider
your client. only out of that you can
produce great architecture. You
cannot work in the abstract.”
 AWARDS:
 1961 National Institute of Arts and Letters, Arnold
Brunner Award.
 1979 The American Institute of Architects, the Gold
Medal.
 1988 United States, National Medal of Arts.
 1994 New York State, Governor’s Arts Award.
 2006 Erwin Wickert Foundation, Orient and Occident
Prize.
 Projects:
➢North America : 48
➢Europe:4
➢Middle East:1
➢Asia:11

❑WORLD ONE
❑BANK OF CHINA
❑LOUVRE PYRAMID
❑NATIONAL GALLERY OF
ART………
WORLD ONE
LOCATED: Upper Worli, Mumbai.
HEIGHT: 442 m,117 floors
BUILT UP AREA:243,00 meter
square.
PLOT AREA: 17.5 acre.
 This development, consisting of 3
residential towers, will house 300
homes including 3 and 4 residences.
 The 41 floor will be a refuge[open
space] which will be used in case of
emergencies.
According to some claims this Mumbai world one
skyscraper will be the world’s tallest residential
building once complete.
Pei is the architect and Leslie E. ROBERTSON
Associates are doing structural engineer.
Till April 2014 , construction of world one tower has
reached 50th floor approximately 220mts.
BANK OF CHINA:
LOCATION: Hong Kong, China.
PROJECT YEAR : 1985-1990
 Pei wanted to reflect “the aspiration of
the Chinese people”.
 The design that he developed for the
skyscraper was not only unique in
appearance, but also sound enough to
pass the city's rigorous standards for
wind-resistance. 
  The tower was planned around a
visible truss structure, which distributed
stress to the four corners of the base.
The Bank of China Tower stands 70 stories tall, reaching a
height of 1,209 feet.
At the time of the opening May 1990, it was the tallest
buildings in Asia and still remain one in Hong Kong.
Comprised of four vertical shafts, the tower emerges from a 52
meter cube and reduces its mass, quadrant by quadrant, until a
single triangular prism resides.
The faceted prism is clad in reflective glass that mirrors the
changing sky, anchoring the expansive business district and
providing characteristic vertical axis to Hong Kong’s towering
skyline.
The four shafts that form the building produce a modern
composite structural system that not only resists high-velocity
winds, but eliminates the need for many interval vertical
supports.
As a result bank of china uses less steel than typical for a
building its sized.
His philosophy for this building was by putting loads on
the four corners of the building because in that way the
building can be stable.
The highest column of the tower distributes the weight
of the building out of its four corners. Each time its
column meets an intersection point.
The load it carries is distributed by the diagonal to the
corner columns by directing
the load outward to the
exterior of the building.
This structural system
Allowed column free interior
Spaces and saved money by
Using less structural steel.
This was not the usual case of form following function,
here form follows structure.
Plan form:
He divided the square into four 45 degree quadrants so
that each quadrant will have a major column to take
load from top.
In that division creates
very very sharp corners.
Pei liked it because it
takes away from the
bluntness of a high building.
LOUVRE PYRAMID
 The Louvre Pyramid was built
in the 1980s as the main
entrance to the Louvre
museum.
 The modern glass structure,
which forms a nice contrast
with the historic facades of
the Louvre, has become a
landmark in its own right.
 It has a height of about 22
meters and at its base
measures just over 35 meters.
CONCEPT :
Pei started from the premise that, that rather than that
the museum being located only a large elongated building, it
should organize itself in a U shape around a courtyard.
Then he had the idea of digging up the cour napoleon, to
provide enough space for two additional floors underground.
He said, entry should have an appropriate scale however,
refused to build a solid element that would compete with
the presence of the baroque buildings.
At the center of the courtyard he designed a glass and steel
pyramid to serve as entrance which was mirrored by another
inverted pyramid underneath, to reflect sunlight into the
rooms.
The pyramid is rather modest in size compared to the
surrounding palace wings of the Louvre.
It is flanked by three smaller pyramids and reflecting
pools with modern fountains.
Much effort was made to make pyramid as transparent as
possible.
The 675 diamond-shaped and 118 triangular panes were
specifically fabricated to make them completely clear.
Attention was paid to the 128 steel girders and 16 steel
cables that hold the panes together.
The monumental appearance of the glass and steel
pyramid fixed in the middle of the court provides a central
focal point that compliments the scale and design of the
Louvre.
To design he studied works of Andre Le Notre- France’s
great landscape designer – who strictly followed geometric
patterns, Pei came up with the shape of a pyramid, would
form a beacon at the center of the courtyard.
I.M.PEI’S VIEWS ON LOUVRE
He thinks the transparency of the pyramid is very
important here. Not only to bring light into the
reception room, but also to see the entire complex of
the Louvre through it.
WHY PYRAMID???
According to him pyramid is the more compatible
figure with the Louvre’s architecture. Also , it is one of
the most stable forms, ensuring its transparency and it
is constructed of steel and metal, symbolizing a break
with past traditions, it is work of our time.
“I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To
become art it must be built on a foundation of
necessity.” 
- I.M.Pei

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