The first major retrospective of Chinese-American architect leoh Ming Pei, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 1983, ‘I. M. Pei: Life is Architecture,’ will be held at the M+ Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong from June 29, 2024. Over the course of 70 years spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, Ieoh Ming Pei, who left numerous landmarks around the world, was born and raised in China, then left for the United States to study architecture, nurturing a perspective infused with both Eastern and Western cultures. Based on this background, he showcased a transcultural world of art intertwined with power dynamics, geopolitical complexities, tradition, and the characteristics of global cities, establishing himself as an influential modernist architect.
The exhibition delves deeper into Pei’s world by selecting six key themes and approaches that represent his work. These include ‘Pei’s Transcultural Foundations,’ ‘Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment,’ ‘Art and Civic Form,’ ‘Material and Structural Innovation,’ ‘Power, Politics, and Patronage,’ and ‘Reinterpreting History as Design Strategy,’ implying that the architect’s work is closely linked to social, cultural, and biographical trajectories, suggesting that architecture and life cannot be separated.
Pei’s Transcultural Foundations
Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment
‘Pei’s Transcultural Foundations’ explores his ability to combine various elements of culture, tradition, and modernity based on his upbringing and architectural education. ‘Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment’ addresses Pei’s lesser-known role as part of the Webb & Knapp real estate developer in New York City and his contributions to mixed-use planning, housing, and urban revitalization projects in the United States during the 1960s and beyond.
Art & Civic Form
Power, Politics & Patronage
Material & Structural Innovation
Reinterpreting History as Design Strategy
The exhibition features over 300 rich images, sketches, videos, models, photographs, and other archival materials, many of which will be publicly displayed for the first time. Additionally, newly commissioned photographs of Pei’s architectural works captured through the contemporary lens of photographers such as South Ho, Naho Kubota, Lee Kuo-min, Giovanna Silva, and Mohamed Somji will be presented. Architectural models of realized or unfinished projects were produced in collaboration with the architecture departments of the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
