Legendary Chinese-born US architect I.M. Pei dies at age 102
- The man behind the controversial renovation of the Louvre Museum in Paris died overnight, his son Chien Chung Pei said
- Ieoh Ming Pei, the son of a banker in China, left his homeland for the US in 1935, later becoming famous for his modern designs and high-profile projects
I.M. Pei, whose modern designs and high-profile projects made him one of the best-known and most prolific architects of the 20th century, has died, The New York Times reported on Thursday. He was 102.
Pei, whose portfolio included a controversial renovation of Paris’ Louvre Museum and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, died overnight, his son Chien Chung Pei told the newspaper.
Ieoh Ming Pei, the son of a prominent banker in China, left his homeland in 1935, moving to the United States and studying architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. After teaching and working for the US government, he went to work for a New York developer in 1948 and started his own firm in 1955.
The museums, municipal buildings, hotels, schools and other structures that Pei built around the world showed precision geometry and an abstract quality with a reverence for light. They were composed of stone, steel and glass and, as with the Louvre, he often worked glass pyramids into his projects.
The Louvre, parts of which date to the 12th century, proved to be Pei’s most controversial work, starting with the fact that he was not French. After being chosen for the job by President Francois Mitterand amid much secrecy, Pei began by making a four-month study of the museum and French history.