I.M PEI FINAL REPORT: HOW HE CREATES IDENTITY IN HIS WORKS
Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese-
American architect. I.M. Pei's unique take on modernism in architecture has informed his prolific work. His projects, from
museums to skyscrapers, show a belief in the idea that form follows intention and that modernism serves as a bridge of present and past. As a student of Le Corbusier and modernist architecture, I.M. Pei took the core belief of modernism that form follows function, and added his own interpretation. Pei believes that form follows intention (which incorporates function). His work reflects this philosophy by his incorporation of functional symbols into all his great works. He has not only transformed our buildings into modern style, but has also impacted people across the world through his architecture. His buildings started to be viewed as sculpture themselves. He explored new ways of constructing buildings and invented new forms for a modern society to live in. He also rejected the Internationalist vision of architecture as future vs. past, and instead saw his role as creating a bridge between the present and the past. These core beliefs explain how Pei designed a wide variety of structures that are all consistent to his vision. His masterful implementation of basic geometric form into the design of his buildings is another point of interest that
contributed to his originality. Pei also created identity through his architecture by using elements from the past and merging them with present modern techniques.
Suzhou Museum has been one of I.M Pei’s greatest works of all
times. It has been recognized as a collision of classical and modern, and combined quite well with each other. This called "Designed for China" Museum conveyed a good architectural style combination between Chinese historic and contemporary fashion. As a modernism master in architectural world, I. M. Pei has always been doing innovative works. He likes to walk a way between tradition and modern world. Contribute to Pei's original design concept of "Chinese style with innovation; Suzhou style with creativity", the Suzhou Museum not only became an architectural landmark in Suzhou, but also a significant architecture bridging Chinese traditional architectural design with modern concepts. This design of this new museum visually complements the traditional architecture of ZhongWangFu.
The façade of Suzhou Museum has whitewashed plaster walls with dark gray clay tiles, which is the traditional construction characteristic of Old Suzhou. The new Suzhou Museum adopts it as the primary colors. Instead of using traditional clay tiles, the roof is made of gray granites with uniformed color. Modern steel structure is applied to the new museum to replace traditional roof beam structure. The style of roof was inspired by traditional roof of Old Suzhou architecture and redesigned into geometric shapes.
The interior is decorated with wooden frames and white ceiling. In addition, metal sunscreens with wooden panels instead of traditional carved windows lattice are introduced to allow more lights and make the new museum more sophisticated. This design makes the natural lighting shapes more complicated and fascinating when it shines in. Let lighting to design, which is a famous saying by I.M.Pei. The garden is another beautiful architectural wonder here. Almost all of the Chinese elements, such as bridges, pavilions, ponds, bamboo, whitewashed plaster walls and fake mountains are present. It looks like a painting rather than a garden. Pei has
fully considered the cultural identity of garden and landscape design of Suzhou, and adopted the style of classical garden in Suzhou. He has also designed various exquisite courtyards the layout of this museum, which made the inner and outer space connected, as well as connected the nature and architecture. The influences behind the design of the Suzhou Museum are some famous Chinese elements. Although this museum is a modern style building, it bridges traditional Chinese architectural design with modern concepts. According to Pei's original design concept of "Chinese style with innovation; Suzhou style with creativity"; and the idea of "not too high, not too large and not too abrupt," the museum has adopted the typical architecture style in Suzhou -- the whitewashed plaster walls and the dark gray clay tiles. As can be seen that Pei took the cultural elements from the old local buildings then put them into a modern style.
Some of his other famous works in which he has tried to create identities include the Miho museum. In this museum he has tried to create the identity of a ShangriLa.
The story behind this is based on a fisherman who lived in Eastern China. One day, as this man was rowing up a mountain stream, he came across a peach orchard in full bloom. At the end of the orchard, he noticed a ray of light coming from a small cave at the foot of a mountain. Once inside, he found himself on a narrow road, but traveling deeper, a splendid view suddenly opened before him. There was the Shangri-La. The museum has also been designed on a similar concept. Only after climbing a gently sloping path lined with verdant trees, passing through a tunnel, and crossing a bridge can the Miho Museum be found. The museum is the expression of that moment, the moment that the museum suddenly comes into your eyes. It is just like a script.
Another such example is the Museum of Islamic arts. Pie found that influences of climate and culture led to many interpretations of Islamic architecture, but none evoked the true essence. So he finally took inspiration from the Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt (9 th century) to construct this museum. In the ‘austerity and simplicity” of the sabil, Pei stated, he found “severe shades of color” the sabil offered – an almost Cubist
expression of geometric progression, which evoked an abstract vision of the key design elements of Islamic architecture. Pie also used ceilings that were embellished with intricate coffered domes, and laid perforated metal chandeliers in the atrium to give it an Islamic identity.
Pei also played with the orientation of the building. He constructed the building in such a way that from the moment one enter the premises, one can feel the urge to move forward, and that movement forward eventually leads one to the image Qatar wants everyone to remember: the rising skyline of Doha.
The circulation is simple, a large atrium with walkways around. However, no matter where one stands, the eyes always go to that humongous window giving one the image that they want everyone to see.
The Louvre pyramid, Paris is another example of the same. The pyramid used as an entrance in the Louvre's courtyard has the exact same proportions as the Great Pyramid of Giza. The choice of this figure also serves as a reminder of the importance of the Egyptian antiquities collection inside the museum.
For Pei, the glass pyramid provided a symbolic entry that had historical and figural importance that reinforced the main entry. Not only is the entire structure functional, it also uses the record needle to symbolize that the musicians inside still reverberate
through the contemporary world. All of these minute details add to the architecture of the building and in turn create identity. To conclude one can say that Pei uses inspiration from the past to stimulate identity in the present as all his major works have been inspired by previously built famous structures.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/03/12/photography-yueqijazzy-li-im-pei-museum-islamic-art-doha-architecture/
http://www.archdaily.com/88705/ad-classics-le-grandelouvre-i-m-pei
http://www.archdaily.com/639108/miho-museum-i-m-pei
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhou_Museum
http://www.biography.com/people/im-pei-9436323
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei
