Tributes have been pouring in on the news of the death of I M Pei, the architect amongst others of the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris. He was 102.
Pei’s designs are renowned for their emphasis on precision geometry, plain surfaces and natural light. he has designed municipal buildings, hotels, schools and other structures across North America, Asia and Europe.
The Pyramid of Le Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
Pei sparked controversy for his pyramid at the Louvre Museum. The glass structure, completed in 1989, is now one of Paris’ most famous landmarks. His other work includes Dallas City Hall and Japan’s Miho Museum.
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 the then president, François Mitterrand, amid much secrecy, Pei began by making a four-month study of the museum and French history.
He created a futuristic 70ft-tall steel-framed, glass-walled pyramid as a grand entrance for the museum with three smaller pyramids nearby. It was a striking contrast to the existing Louvre structures in classic French style and was reviled by many French.
Ieoh Ming Pei was born in Guangzhou in 1917, and moved to the US at the age of 18 to study at Pennsylvania, MIT and Harvard. He worked as a research scientist for the US government during World War Two, and went on to work as an architect, founding his own firm in 1955.
He carried on working well into old age, creating one of his most famous masterpieces – the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar – in his 80s.
