This paper introduces the life and works of a modern foreign architect.

I.M. Pei, a world-class architect and American Chinese, and Zhao Wuji, a French Chinese painter, and Zhou Wenzhong, an American Chinese composer, are regarded as the "three treasures of art" of overseas Chinese. Some people may say that architecture is a science, why should it be juxtaposed with art? However, everyone in the architectural field knows that I.M. Pei is not only an outstanding architect, but also built many magnificent palaces with pens and rulers. He is an extremely idealistic architectural artist who is good at combining ancient traditional architectural art with the latest modern technology to create his own unique style. I.M. Pei himself said: "Although architecture and art are different, they are essentially the same. My goal is to seek the harmony and unity of them." Facts have proved that the persistent pursuit of architectural art is an important aspect of his career success.

I.M. Pei was born in Guangzhou on April 26th of 19 17. His ancestors were Suzhou aristocrats, and his father Bei Zuyi was the president of China Bank. 19 19, I.M. Pei went to Hong Kong to establish the Bank of China Hong Kong Branch. So, I spent my childhood in Hong Kong and studied in Sao Paulo Primary School. /kloc-after 0/927, he went back to Shanghai to study in middle school, and then studied at St. John's University in Shanghai. 1935, he crossed the ocean to study in the United States. His father had hoped that he would go to England to study finance, but he did not obey his father's orders, but entered Pennsylvania State University to study architecture according to his hobbies.

Why is he interested in architecture? It was also an accident. When he was studying in Shanghai, he often went to a billiard hall to play billiards on weekends. The tallest hotel in Shanghai was being built near the billiard hall at that time. This aroused his curiosity: how could anyone have the ability to build such a tall building, from which he had the ideal of learning architecture.

However, I.M. Pei was very disappointed with the teaching method of explaining classical architectural theory with pictures in the University of Pennsylvania. He transferred to MIT, graduated with honors in 1939, and won an award from the American Institute of Architects. After the outbreak of World War II, he served in the US Air Force for three years, retired in 1944, and entered Harvard University, a famous institution of higher learning, to study for a master's degree. 1945 After studying abroad, he stayed in school and was hired as an assistant professor of design institute.

I.M. Pei entered the field of practical architecture from a purely academic ivory tower in 1948. This year, William Chaigendorf, a visionary and courageous real estate developer in new york, broke the convention of American architecture and hired I.M. Pei as an architect from China for the first time as the director of the architectural research department of Weber knapp Construction Company he founded. Chai Gendorf and I.M. Pei, one is an experienced, eloquent and extremely intelligent real estate builder, and the other is an architect with professional knowledge and great creativity. They cooperate and complement each other, and they are ideal partners in their careers. They worked together for twelve years. In the past 12 years, I.M. Pei has designed many commercial and residential buildings for Chaigendov's real estate company, and also made many social reconstruction plans. During this period, I.M. Pei also designed a science building for his alma mater, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and two faculty and staff residential buildings for new york University. All these made Pei's first appearance in American architecture, and laid the foundation for his career in the following decades.

1960, I.M. Pei left Chaigendorf and set up his own construction company.

He is most praised for his concern for the interests of civilians in architectural design. He has designed many popular apartments in new york, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago, which are both beautiful and economical. The three-story social apartment he designed in Philadelphia is very popular with the working class. Therefore, Rice University in Philadelphia awarded him the honorary title of "People's Architect" in 1963. In the same year, the American Architectural Society awarded him the new york Honorary Award. Washington post called his architectural design an urban plan that really serves the people.

With the booming business of his construction company, his main design force has gradually shifted from urban reconstruction scheme to the design of giant public buildings. The National Center for Atmospheric Research, built in the mountains of Colorado in the 1960s, can be said to be the beginning of his design of public buildings. The center was established in 196 1 year and completed in 1967. Its shape is simple and vigorous, and the tower-shaped roof makes the building itself like a towering mountain peak, which is in harmony with the surrounding environment. Newsweek published its photos, calling Pei's design a "breakthrough design".

What really made I.M. Pei famous and among the world-class architects was the design and construction of the John F. Kennedy Library. 1964, in order to commemorate the late American President John F. Kennedy, people decided to build a permanent building in Boston Harbor-the John F. Kennedy Library. At first, the Kennedy family didn't pay much attention to Pei, a "newborn calf" among a large group of first-class architects, but when he vividly described the design according to the building location, the selection of building materials, and how to give the building special uses and significance, he was deeply admired by Kennedy's widow Jacqueline. She asserted, "I am Pei's beautiful world is unparalleled, so I chose him after careful consideration. This building has been built for fifteen years. The library was completed in 1979, which caused a sensation in the American architectural community because of its novel design, bold modeling and superb technology. It is recognized as one of the best masterpieces in American architectural history. The American architectural community declared 1979 as "I.M. Pei Year" and awarded him the gold medal of the American Architectural Society that year.

In fact, in 1978, the year before the completion of the John F. Kennedy Library, the design and construction of the East Pavilion of the National Gallery of Washington was successful, and I.M. Pei's position as a world-class architect was established. At the opening ceremony of the East Pavilion, then US President Carter said, "It is not only a harmonious and comprehensive part of Washington, but also a symbol of the increasing connection between public life and artistic interests." I.M. Pei is called "a rare outstanding architect".

The geographical location of the "East Pavilion" is very prominent. It looks east at the Capitol and west at the White House. But the terrain it occupies is an irregular quadrangle, which is difficult for architects to deal with. In order to form a highly harmonious scenery between the building and the surrounding environment, I.M. Pei carefully conceived and creatively connected platforms, stairs, slopes and colonnades with different heights and shapes, giving people an unpredictable feeling. Sunlight enters from different angles through the spider web skylight, forming a beautiful picture. This "East Pavilion", which took ten years and cost nearly one hundred million dollars, is known as "the creative combination of modern art and architecture".

People in the architectural field generally believe that Pei Ming's architectural design has three characteristics: First, the architectural form and the environment are naturally integrated. Second, the space handling is unique. Third, the building materials are exquisite and the interior design of the building is exquisite. These characteristics have been fully reflected in the design of "East Pavilion".

For decades, I.M. Pei has designed many museums, universities, commercial centers and skyscrapers all over the United States, as well as many large-scale buildings in Canada, France, Australia, Singapore, Iran, Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan Province Province. He is a world-famous architect.

According to rough statistics, in the past half century, I.M. Pei has designed more than 100 large buildings and won more than 50 awards. He won 24 awards in nearly 50 large-scale buildings designed in the United States.

I.M. Pei won the award for the first time in 1959. 1998, the Melha Shopping Center in Denver, USA, which he designed won the honorary award of American Architectural Society. In the same year, he won the Excellence Award of the Association for designing a new building in Denver. After the 1960s, he won more awards, especially in the 1980s.

In the early 1980s, French President Mitterrand decided to rebuild and expand the Louvre, a world-famous art treasure house. To this end, the China Municipal Government has extensively solicited design schemes. The applicant is a famous architect from France and other countries. Finally, President Mitterrand came forward and invited 15 prestigious museum directors from all over the world to choose the design scheme for the application for the World Heritage. Results Thirteen curators chose I.M. Pei's design scheme. He designed to build a glass pyramid in Napoleon's courtyard in the Louvre with modern building materials. Unexpectedly, once this matter was announced, it caused an uproar in France. People think that this will destroy the style of this 800-year-old ancient building and "destroy the Louvre and the pyramids". However, President Mitterrand pushed through the design scheme of I.M. Pei.

The glass pyramid designed and built by I.M. Pei is 2 1 meter high and 30 meters wide at the bottom, standing in the center of the courtyard. Its four sides are composed of 673 diamond-shaped glasses. The total plane area is about 2000 square meters. The total weight of the iron tower is 200 tons, of which the net weight of glass is 105 tons, and the metal support is only 95 tons. In other words, the load of the bracket exceeds its own weight. Therefore, experts believe that this glass pyramid is not only a masterpiece of modern artistic style, but also a unique attempt to use modern science and technology.

The north, south and east sides of this large glass pyramid are decorated with three small glass pyramids five meters high, which together with seven triangular fountains form the strange beauty of plane and three-dimensional geometric figures. People not only stopped accusing him, but also said that "a huge gem flew to the Louvre"

In the same year, he also won the Putzke Prize known as the Nobel Prize in architecture. This award is an honorary award of the world's best architectural achievement award established by Kaihai Foundation in 1979, and is awarded once a year. I.M. Pei is the fifth person to receive this honor. This award is based on the work done in recent decades.

Since then, Beluming has won awards almost every year. 1984, awarded the honorary award by Yi Tuo Society for designing Beijing Xiangshan Hotel. 1985, he was jointly elected as a noble academician of the American Academy of Literature and Arts and the National Academy of Literature and Arts. 1986, as one of 12 immigrants with outstanding personal achievements, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan. 1988, President Mitterrand awarded him the Medal of Honor at the inauguration ceremony of the glass pyramid in the Louvre. This year, he was awarded the fourth National Art Award by President Reagan. 1989, the underground expansion project of Louvre designed by I.M. Pei was completed. Because of its achievements with the glass pyramid, I was elected to the British Pavilion in America. 1990, he and his son Belle Zhong won the "Los Angeles Beautification Award" for their cooperation in designing the office building in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. 199 1 year, he received an honorary doctorate from Thomas College in New Hampshire. 1992, he was awarded the Top Ten Citizen Award by President Bush.

I.M. Pei went to study in the United States on 1935. It's been 60 years since I got married across the ocean. But his deep feelings for China remain in his mind. His ancestral home is Suzhou and he was born in Guangzhou, so he often calls people "I'm from Suzhou" and "I'm from Guangzhou". His wife, Ailing Lu, studied at Willis College and later worked as a landscape architect at Harvard University. The couple can still speak fluent Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghai dialect and Suzhou dialect. The usual dress, family arrangements and living habits still maintain the traditional characteristics of China. They have three sons and a daughter, and all three sons have the word "Zhong" in their names. Followed by Bei Zhong Ding, Bei Jianzhong and Bei Lizhong. The daughter's name is Belian, which is also a typical China name.

In the early 1970s, I.M. Pei returned to China for the first time to visit relatives and sightseeing after nearly 40 years. He was filled with emotion and later came to China many times. Overseas, he once said with deep affection that my roots are in China and China has attracted me a lot, so whenever I go back, I feel at home.

I.M. Pei was deeply impressed by the traditional architectural art in China. The winding promenade, rockery and waterside pavilion in Suzhou gardens, especially the complementary pattern between architecture and surrounding natural landscape, and the application of light and shadow aesthetics have been traced in his architectural design career for decades. The newly-built Xiangshan Hotel, located in Beijing Xiangshan Park, is a combination of modern architectural art and China traditional architectural features.

1979, I.M. Pei accepted the design of Xiangshan Hotel. With his consistent and meticulous style, he not only visited Xiangshan for many times to survey the terrain, but also climbed to the top to overlook the surrounding environment. And visited Beijing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Chengde and other places. Investigate the local big buildings and gardens. Finally, a series of irregular courtyards were built to blend with the surrounding water, mountains, mountains and towering ancient trees. Therefore, this newly-built Xiangshan Hotel looks ordinary in appearance, just like a girl with inner beauty. At first glance, it seems inconspicuous, but the more you look at it, the more you will feel the natural beauty of her light makeup.

Compared with the skyscrapers designed in the past, the scale of Xiangshan Hotel is not large. But I.M. Pei said, "Xiangshan Hotel occupies an important position in my design career. My efforts are ten times higher than some buildings designed abroad. " He also said, "Starting from the design of Xiangshan Hotel, I tried to explore a new way. A modern building embodies the essence of China's national architectural art ". There are only two designs in this prolific architect's office. One is the design of the East Building of China Art Museum, and the other is the design of Beijing Xiangshan Hotel. It can be seen that the design of Xiangshan Hotel really occupies an important position in his heart.

1984, I.M. Pei designed a 70-storey building with a height of 100 for China Bank. It was the tallest building in Hong Kong at that time and the tallest building in the world except the United States at that time. This is of course because his father was the earliest founder of HSBC, which made him feel close to the building. However, he stressed that this building is one of the symbols of China in Hongkong and should be held high. It is also China's pride to show some style and style.

Meixiu Art Museum was built by Japanese Miyuko Yamayama for collection. The 60-meter-high bell tower designed by I.M. Pei in Japan and the glass pyramid of the Louvre designed in France moved the beauty from Zishan, and entrusted I.M. Pei to design the 1990 art museum. In view of the owner's complete trust in the architect, everything respects the designer's opinion and spends 25 billion yen to build this paradise on earth.

I.M. Pei showed us such an ideal picture: a mountain, a valley, and buildings hidden in clouds. Many ancient China literature and paintings revolve around a theme: after a long and tortuous road, I came to a thatched cottage in the mountains, which was hidden in silence, accompanied only by the sound of waterfalls ... It was a fairyland far away from the world. It's dangerous to be here. This is the journey of those pathfinders.

Protect the natural landscape to the maximum extent.

The excavation of the art gallery has been carefully arranged. In order to protect the growth of natural slopes and trees to the greatest extent, people have built special tunnels and built a series of platforms to reduce the impact on the surrounding water, soil and plants. In the process of filling the earth in the art museum, an earthquake-proof wall with a height of more than 20 meters was carefully designed to separate the building on the second floor underground from the rocks. After covering, the original scenery on the mountain was restored a few years later, and the natural landscape was as good as ever.

Reproduce the memory of Suzhou gardens

At present, there is a small round square, and there is also a circle in the middle of the square, which is engraved with a cross pattern. Presumably, this is the same as what Little Square saw in the guest room. I didn't rush to climb three steps, but first looked at the traditional glass roof and the moon door under the light and shadow. I.M. Pei himself said that he borrowed the structure of Japanese temples, but I think this is clearly the memory of Suzhou gardens when I was a teenager.

A wood-like aluminum alloy grille with filtering function is designed in the space between the roof glass and the steel pipe support rod. In addition to the aesthetic success, the fantastic shadow of the grille is scattered in the halls and corridors of the art museum, which is in contrast with the traditional Japanese bamboo curtain "shadow culture". This strong effect is unexpected.

I always like to purify the geometry hidden in modeling. This entry-level building, looking closely at the border line of the roof, is composed of large and small squares and triangles, intertwined with each other, like a geometric illusion painting. It's not here. If the waist of the largest triangle in the roof is extended to both sides, it will naturally connect with the sloping sides of the fence on both sides of the steps. At this time, what we see is a huge and stable regular triangle, which is the wonderful pen of I.M. Pei. If it is influenced by Japan, the emphasis should be on clear outline and silhouette effect.

This entrance building is transparent in both front and back walls. The unique design of the skylight is the "sun hat" under the glass. Bereming's buildings often use this kind of sunshine treatment, but they all use aluminum alloy. This time, all the wood materials are used, and the light is reflected by the roots and scattered into the space, so that a warm and soft atmosphere appears in the room. After entering the main entrance, you can open the window through the glass like a wide-angle screen. You can see the pines and mountains outside the window, like a transparent screen painting, welcoming the audience.

Waves in the rhythm of mountains

There is a diversified trend in modern architecture, one of which is to move towards a place that can be toured, considerable, habitable and uplifted. In fact, the so-called architectural reality must show you a space that is easy to remember, or an experience that you have never experienced before.

The unique feature of Meixiu Art Museum is that apart from being far away from the city, the most special thing is that 80% of the buildings are buried underground, but it is not a real underground building, but because the ground is a nature reserve, and there are many restrictions in Japan's nature protection law. It is built on a hill. If viewed from a distance, the exposed part of the roof meets the curve of the mountain peak, just like the waves in the rhythm of the mountain range. It is hidden in evergreen bushes, and it is in due harmony with nature.

Rich and complex oriental complex

Looking at Bei Xingming's works, he has added luster to the modern city since the industrial revolution, which can be said to be consistent with the pace of the times. At 1988, I.M. Pei decided not to accept large-scale construction projects, but to choose small buildings carefully, and the height of the buildings he designed was getting lower and lower. That is to say, it is getting closer and closer to the main line. I think this is a return to nature. This art gallery shows more clearly Beixing's grasp of the oriental artistic conception tomorrow night, especially the remote mountain scenery of his hometown-China's ideal landscape painting. Japanese critics have put it well, and this work marks a new milestone in the long architectural career of Beixingming.

The original idea of Meixiu Art Museum comes from the prose Peach Blossom Garden written by Tao Yuanming, an idyllic poet in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in China. It is also a well-known Japanese China classic. So the curator of the art museum, Yamami Yuko, saw these four Chinese characters and immediately accepted I.M. Pei's idea happily. An architect who was born in China and started his career in the United States built an art museum with typical China scenery in Japan. What a rich and complex synthesis it is.

Artistic conception of architectural structure

People often complain that buildings are subject to various restrictions and cannot achieve their original intention. However, due to restrictions, the creation of melancholy shows can be reflected, and Meixiu Art Museum is an excellent example.

I.M. Pei was interviewed by a reporter in new york. He believes: "The shape of the structure is of course influenced by the terrain. According to local regulations, only buildings with a total area of 17000 square meters are allowed to be exposed to the ground, so 80% of the art museum must be underground. "

Now we see that the completed building is beyond our imagination, which can be said to be a masterpiece under constraints. In the constraint, we see the genius of I.M. Pei. Only a lot of triangular and prismatic glass roofs can be seen from the appearance. Actually, it's all skylights. Once entered, the bright and stretched space exceeded people's expectations.

The whole building consists of two floors: the ground floor and the underground floor. The entrance is on the first floor. After entering the main entrance, you can look up. The intricate multi-faceted and multi-angle combination of skylights has become an important memory of this art museum. The shading grid is made of light yellow wood, and the indoor wall and floor materials are made of light khaki limestone made in France, which is the same as that used by I.M. Pei to design the front hall of Louvre Art Museum. It should be said that this aspect also satisfies Yamashita's hope that Yukiko will pursue the first-class level.

North-South Wing and Series

The facilities are generally composed of the north and south wings, and the passage connecting the north and south pavilions makes the whole building look comfortable, which can be seen at a glance through the building plan. The North Pavilion mainly displays oriental art, the South Pavilion collects western art, and both underground floors are service spaces. The north wing is the collection group, while the south wing is the office of the director and librarian.

I.M. Pei's repeated use of geometric techniques is well known, and he pursues exquisite and refined modeling to the extreme. This time, due to the special structural requirements of the art museum, in order to display some specific works of art, some special spaces must be designed inside. For example, after the 2nd century AD, a 7-day window was specially designed at the top of Gandhara sculpture in Pakistan, which was exhibited in South Asia Art Museum. The light scattered from above is mysterious.

At present, the design of the collective warehouse is unconventional, and it is designed at the lowest floor, so it has become a major topic in construction in terms of waterproof and moistureproof. All the walls are insulated to prevent frosting due to the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor. On the other hand, in order to prevent the soil covering the building from seeping, a waterproof agent made in Switzerland with cold resistance and root resistance (that is, root erosion resistance) is adopted, and then cement is laid on it to prevent accidents.

I.M. Pei has made great efforts not only in the building itself, but also in the installation and collection environment of artworks. The most prominent example is the design of air conditioning system for exhibitions and collections. There is no direct air conditioning in the exhibition room, but it is set around to protect precious works of art. This new idea is to let the air with ideal temperature penetrate into the exhibition space, while the internal air does not convection, so as to control the influence on works of art to a minimum. The collection warehouse has also taken the same measures. However, the lighting of the exhibition room cancels the heating light source that is harmful to the exhibits, and uses optical fiber materials developed in recent years as lighting.

Borrow scenery to make a garden

The so-called borrowing scenery is to intercept or cut a part of nature by artificial means and enjoy its tolerance. This is a common practice of traditional gardening in China, and the Japanese have the same tradition.

Please look at the art gallery where I.M. Pei uses it like this. It is one kilometer away from the architecture in Ming Xiu. In order to reflect the connection with this group of buildings, after entering the main hall, you can immediately look out at the scenery outside the window-mountains and the Temple of Mercy and the Bell Tower with only the roof exposed.

The North Pavilion has an atrium with a courtyard designed by a Japanese landscape architect. Over the buildings around the courtyard, you can see the hills and blue sky and white clouds outside the courtyard. This beautiful relationship reminds me of what I saw and heard when I left Kyoto Palace. Now it is also one-sided. I.M. Pei's conception of the overall facilities of the art museum is indeed in the broad vision of Du Shanshui.