i.m.. Pei, the man behind the Louvre's iconic design, dies at the age of 102.



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NEW YORK: IM Pei, the famous American architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with its clean lines and thick structures, died in New York City, said Thursday the architectural firm of his sons. He was 102 years old.

From the controversial Louvre pyramid in Paris to the iconic Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, Pei, of Chinese origin, was the mastermind behind works considered embracing modernity tempered by a historical base.

Pei partnership architects confirmed the death of Pei at AFP. Pei's son, Li Chung, quoted in the New York Times, said the architect had died on Wednesday night.

"Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something, there is some concern for history, but it is not very deep," said Pei, with his glbades rounded owl frame, in an interview with the New York Times in 2008.

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<figcaption> January 16, 1997 archive photo: Ieoh Ming Pei explains a model of his project for the German Historical Museum Berlin to the German Minister of Housing and Construction, Klaus Toepfer during a presentation at the Chancellery in Bonn, Germany. </figcaption></figure>
<p>  "I understand that times have changed, that we have evolved. But I do not want to forget the beginning, "he said.
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<p>  "Sustainable architecture must have roots."
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<p>  His work won the Pritzker Prize of 1983, considered the Nobel Prize for Architecture. More than half of his 50 creations made in the United States and around the world have been rewarded.
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<p>  Born in China in 1917, the son of banker Ieoh Ming Pei arrived in the United States at age 17 to study architecture. He graduated from the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940 with an undergraduate degree.
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<p>  He then enrolled in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he obtained a Master's degree in Architecture in 1946. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1954.
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<p>  In a remarkable undertaking, he cleverly inserted into the monumental structures of the capital of his adopted country the modern angles of the East Building of the National Gallery of Arts, opened in 1978.<br />
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<figure clbad=  Untitled-10 "title =" Untitled-10 "/> 
 
<figcaption> Photo of March 29, 1989: French President François Mitterrand (R) shakes hands with IM Pei under the supervision of the Director of the Louvre Museum, Michel Laclotte Public Opening of the Louvre Pyramid </figcaption></figure>
<p>  The superb concrete and glbad structure has huge mirrored pyramids and a 15-meter waterfall.
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<p>  "A composition of angular stone shapes (…) remains the most visible emblem of modern Washington," said a New York Times magazine 30 years after its unveiling.
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<p>  French President François Mitterrand was so impressed that he had hired Pei to build a glbad pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre, the world's most visited museum.
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<p>  The project provoked heated controversy in Paris. Pei suffered critics criticism before the opening of the gigantic glbad structure in 1989, but its creation is now an icon of the French capital.
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<p>  "I have received many furious looks in the streets of Paris," Pei said, confessing that "after the Louvre, I thought that no project would be too difficult."
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<p>  Other well known and characteristic projects of Pei – often graceful combinations of geometric plans – include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and its museum in Cleveland, Ohio; Miho Museum, Shigo, Japan; the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas and the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.
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<p>  He created the drama at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan and at Raffles City in Singapore.
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<p>  His Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, completed in 1982, was intended to incorporate indigenous building technology and principles into a mix that would pave the way for a particularly Chinese brand of modern architecture.
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<p>  Although he is an admitted novice of Islamic art, Pei was also commissioned to design the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, which opened in 2008 in great pomp.
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<p>  The desert-toned building, inspired by the 13th-century Ahmad ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo, incorporates geometric patterns and is illuminated by reflected light entering from above.
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<p>  Pei spent months traveling the Muslim world in search of inspiration.
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<p>  "Islam was a religion I did not know," he told The Times during the opening year. "So I studied the life of Muhammad, I went to Egypt and Tunisia."
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<p>  Pei devotes energetic efforts to supporting the arts and education, serving on visiting committees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, Harvard and MIT, as well as numerous expert groups US government, including the National Council for the Humanities and the National Council. on the arts.
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<p>  He spent $ 100,000 of the Pritzker Architecture Prize on the creation of a scholarship fund to allow Chinese students to study the profession to the States. United States, provided that they return home to design and build.
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<p>  In 1975, Pei was elected to the American Academy and to the Institute of Arts and Letters. Three years later he became Chancellor of the Academy, the first architect to occupy this position.
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<p>  He was also one of 12 naturalized American citizens, then President Ronald Reagan, who had received the Freedom Medal in 1986.
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<p>  In 1988, Mitterrand appointed Pei Knight of the Legion of Honor, and then elevated him to the rank of Officer at the end of Phase II of the Pyramid in Glbad and Stainless Steel of the Grand Louvre, in 1993.
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<p>  US President George Bush awards Pei the Freedom Medal the same year, when he is also elected Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
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<p>  In addition to his museum work and his contributions to the government and commercial landscape, Pei also worked on low-income, moderate housing.
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<p>  "His concern has always been the environment in which his buildings were built," wrote the Pritzker Jury, who awarded him the most prestigious award for architecture in 1983.
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<p>  "His versatility and skill in using materials are close to the level of poetry," the committee wrote. "His tact and patience allowed him to bring together people with different interests and disciplines to create a harmonious environment."</p>
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