M+ Special Exhibition I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture

M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, will present I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, the first full-scale retrospective of Chinese American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (1917–2019), widely known as I. M. Pei, one of the most influential architects of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Generously supported by the Lead Sponsor Bank of China (Hong Kong), this Special Exhibition will open to the public from Saturday, 29 June 2024 to Sunday, 5 January 2025 in the museum’s West Gallery.

The first full-scale retrospective of I. M. Pei

Pei’s high-profile projects were realised over seven decades with an exceptionally wide geographic reach, including the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, D.C., the modernisation of the Grand Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. These landmark projects solidified his legacy and position in architectural history and popular culture. His life and work weave together a tapestry of power dynamics, geopolitical complexities, and cultural traditions around the world. His transcultural vision laid the foundation for the contemporary world.

Organised with the support of the Estate of I. M. Pei and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, which succeeded the architectural firm Pei founded, the exhibition is curated by Shirley Surya, Curator, Design and Architecture, M+, and Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut (New Institute), Rotterdam. Seven years in the making, this retrospective features more than 400 objects, many of them never exhibited before. These include original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and other archival documentation from institutional and private holdings.

The exhibition takes a close look at Pei’s life and work through six areas of focus that not only define his unique practice, but also place his architectural projects in dialogue with social, cultural, and biographical trajectories, showing architecture and life to be inseparable. These areas are:

Pei’s Cross-Cultural Foundations shows how Pei’s upbringing and architectural education formed the foundation of his ability to reconcile multiple sources of influence across cultures and between tradition and modernity.

Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment unveils a lesser-known phase of Pei’s career as part of real estate developer Webb & Knapp in New York City. It explores his contributions to mixed-use planning, housing, and urban revitalisation projects in the United States in the 1960s, and subsequently beyond American borders.

Art and Civic Form introduces Pei’s museum designs and his frequent collaborations with artists from Henry Moore to Zao Wou-Ki. The section demonstrates his belief in museums as civic spaces, the importance of dialogue between art and architecture, and his deep affinity with the contemporary art of his time.

Power, Politics, and Patronage reveals how Pei—with his technical mastery, ingenious problem-solving, and sensitivity to client needs—became a trusted collaborator in high-profile commissions that drew both immense support and public controversy throughout his career.

Material and Structural Innovation illustrates Pei and his team’s consistent inventiveness in the use of materials and construction methods, especially with concrete, stone, glass, and steel.

Reinterpreting History through Design examines Pei’s long-standing interest in making modern architecture relevant to different histories, traditions, and ways of life, particularly those related to his birthplace. Pei distilled the essence of cultural and historical archetypes to provide formal or spatial strategies for contemporary needs.

To engage a new generation of architecture students with the work of I. M. Pei, M+ has partnered with two master’s programmes at the University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture and The Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Architecture, which focus on the design of tall structures and cultural spaces, respectively. Students have contributed to creating five models in their studios of some of Pei’s most significant built and unbuilt projects. The projects include ‘Museum of Chinese Art for Shanghai’ (1946, unbuilt), his master’s thesis for Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design; Hyperboloid (1954–1956, unbuilt), New York; and Luce Memorial Chapel (1954–1963), Tunghai University, Taichung.

The exhibition also features newly commissioned photographs of eleven of Pei’s built projects by seven international photographers, taken during the pandemic, to reconsider the enduring influence of Pei’s work. The photographers are South Ho Siu Nam (Hong Kong), Naho Kubota (New York City), Lee Kuo-Min (Taipei), Giovanna Silva (Milan), Mohamed Somji (Dubai), Tian Fangfang (Shanghai), and Tomoko Yoneda (Tokyo/London).

The M+ Cinema will feature a series of special screenings in its Summer Edition from July to September 2024, with a focus on documentary and fiction films featuring Pei’s architectural projects. Highlights include First Person Singular: I. M. Pei (1997), an insightful documentary in which Pei leads viewers on an international tour of his best-known works with candid discussions of his life and design approach; Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi classic RoboCop (1987), featuring Dallas City Hall (1966–1977) in Texas; and Woody Allen’s comedy Sleeper (1973), shot in part at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (1961–1967) in Boulder, Colorado. From July to December 2024, there will also be free Grand Stair Daytime Screenings featuring two documentaries about Pei’s projects in Asia.

Other programme details will be announced on the M+ website.