Conversations with I. M. Pei: "Light Is the Key"

Book Description
The Chinese-born American architect Ioeh Ming Pei is one of the most prolific architects of our times. Best known for such as the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and his controversial and critically acclaimed Grand Louvre glass pyramid in Paris (1983-89), his architectural oeuvre is characterized by the importance of light. In a series of intimate interviews with filmmaker Gero von Boehm, this volume explores the origins, ideas, and motives behind Pei's work.


From the Publisher
Pei has commented to filmmaker Gero von Boehm that architecture is essentially geometry modeled by light. The architect considers people and light to be the two essential ingredients of his architecture, since their presence and interplay makes his buildings come to life. Reflecting on the earliest influences of his childhood in Shanghai, his studies at MIT and Harvard, and the developments and highlights of his long and eventful career, Pei reveals himself as an architect who has incorporated both Eastern and Western ideas into his designs in a truly groundbreaking manner.


About the Author
The Architect
Ioeh Ming Pei was born in China in 1917, the son of a prominent banker. At the age of 17 he cam to the United States to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later at Harvard. After working for the celebrated city planner-developer William Zeckendorf, Mr. Pei founded I.M. Pei & Associates in 1955, which became I.M. Pei & Partners in 1966, and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in 1989. Among his renewed buildings are the East Wing of the Ntaional Gallery in Washington DC (1968-1978), and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong (1982-89), and the Miho Museum in Shiga, Japan (1991-1997). Mr Pei is currently designing the German Historical Museum in Berlin The Author
Gero von Boehm is a journalist, and a film and television producer. He has produced numerous documentaries on major contemporary figures, including Mr. Pei.


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