[ad_1]
Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1917, I.M. Pei had a career in architecture that lasted more than 60 years. Mr. Pei, who moved to the United States to attend college and died Thursday at the age of 102, has created several masterpieces of modern architecture known in the whole world. Among these iconic structures are the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Louvre Pyramid and the East Building of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Here are some highlights of his career in megawatt architecture.
Boulder, Colo.
National Center for Atmospheric Research
This is one of the first major orders of the company IM Pei & Associates, created by Mr. Pei, that he created in 1955. Completed in 1966, the building is located on a high mesa overlooking the city, against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. . Its concrete and stone building is inspired by the homes of Native American cliffs in southwestern Colorado.
This building, completed in 1968, was Mr. Pei's first museum commission. According to the museum's website, the architect "rejected the traditional notion that a museum was to be a monumental container of art and decided that it should be done". a sculptural work of art itself. He wanted visitors to see the building as a sculpture, a work of art that people have actively moved, engaged and observed from different angles.
The angular glass and marble structure, completed in 1978, was constructed from the same Tennessee marble as the original building of John Russell Pope's National Gallery Building of 1941. But here, Mr. Pei has it transformed into a building of sharp and angular shapes, arranged around a triangle Courtyard. This structure allowed him to demonstrate his belief that modernism was able to produce works with the gravitas, the sense of permanence and the popular appeal of the larger traditional structures. Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture critic for the New York Times at the time, He hailed it as the most important building of the time. The building has recently reopened after a $ 69 million renovation.
Paris
The Louvre pyramid
The glass pyramid that serves as entrance to the Louvre remains one of his most famous commands. "If I know I'm not mistaken, it's the Louvre," he said. His proposal, however, became the focus of an international controversy during its initial unveiling. Mr. Pei was accused of attempting to corrupt one of the world's great monuments. With the support of President François Mitterand, the design of the pyramid has progressed. It finally opened in the spring of 1989 and its elegance and geometric precision finally won over most critics.
Cleveland, Ohio
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
After a series of commissions from high-level museums, this was perhaps his most surprising order. Mr. Pei, who was not a rock n 'roll fan, initially refused the job. But once engaged in the project, he did his research: he went on the road with Jann Wenner, co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone, going to various rock concerts. Completed in 1995, the Cleveland structure – with its characteristic sloping form – equates to a huge glass tent.
Doha, Qatar
Museum of Islamic Art
The last cultural building of Mr. Pei is the result of a call launched in 2008 for the design of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (Qatar). A long-time collector of Western abstract expressionist art, he admitted that he knew little about Islamic art. But again, Mr. Pei saw an improbable commission as an opportunity to learn more about a culture he did not claim to understand. He began his research by reading a biography of the Prophet Muhammad, and then undertook a tour of great Islamic architecture around the world. This stacked design occupies an artificial island in the port of Doha.
[ad_2]
Source link