News:
  • Women Directors 2021
  • Ma Rainey Sings the Blues with Passion and Rage
  • Kareem Tayyar and the Complexities of Joy
  • LIFE AFTER BIRTH APPLAUDS IMPEACHMENT NUMBER 2
  • Poets on Craft: Stephen Kampa and Chelsea Woodward
  • Signs and the City
  • Contact us
  • About
    • What is Cultural Weekly?
    • Advertise
    • Contributors
    • Masthead
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions: Write for us
    • Cultural Weekly Style & Formatting Guide
  • Contact us
  • About
    • What is Cultural Weekly?
    • Advertise
    • Contributors
    • Masthead
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions: Write for us
    • Cultural Weekly Style & Formatting Guide
Cultural Weekly logo
  • Film
  • TV + Web
  • Poetry
  • Art
  • Architecture
  • Literature
  • Theatre
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Film
  • TV + Web
  • Poetry
  • Art
  • Architecture
  • Literature
  • Theatre
  • Music
  • Dance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • Food

Remembering I.M. Pei

By Allon Schoener on May 22, 2019 in Architecture

Click Here To View Comments

Remembering  I.M. Pei

When I heard that the internationally acclaimed modernist architect, I.M. Pei, died on May 16 at the age of 102, I lamented his passing and paused to reflect on where and when this immensely talented patrician Chinese-born American architect and I had crossed paths. Known affectionately by colleagues and friends as “I.M.,” he created monumental structures on three continents.

In 1957, I was director of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. Downtown Cincinnati was undergoing a metamorphosis. Pei had recently emerged as a major architectural talent. I hoped that it might be possible to involve him in Cincinnati’s future and invited him to come there and speak about his philosophy of urban design.

At that point in his career, he was the in-house architect for developer William Zeckendorf’s Webb and Knapp real estate firm. Following Pei’s Cincinnati visit, I went to see him at his 343-345 Madison Avenue office in New York, a thirteen story Italianate palazzo style edifice. His office was a glass enclosed rectangle situated on the roof of the building. Yes, he was working for a commercial real estate tycoon, but he established his own personal design identity within the confines of that situation.

National_Gallery_East_Wing_by_Matthew_Bisanz

Our paths did not cross directly for some time. In the interim, I followed his career evolve and often experienced immersion in one of his museums. While on the staff of the New York State Council on the Arts, I got to know his brutalist concrete Everson Museum in Syracuse, a predecessor to his transformative design of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

In 1979, as a member of the first America cultural delegation to visit China after normalization of relations, we went to Suchow, a city noted for its historic contemplative gardens. Among them was the Pei family garden, one of the most beautiful and extensive. While in this garden, I remember saying to myself, “If this is I.M. Pei’s family heritage, no wonder he is a great architect.”

On assignment for Connoisseur magazine to do an article on the National Gallery in Washington, I had lunch in the executive dining room. I.M. and his wife were sitting at the next banquette on our side of the room. I thought, “How wonderful that he and his wife could have lunch in one of his museums.” I was tempted to introduce myself and decided against it.

640px-Louvre_Pyramid

By Hteink.min – commons:File:Louvre Pyramid.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, WikiMedia

Having been in Paris frequently in the late 1980s, I followed the construction of Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre. It replaced the former museum entrance’s colossal 12 foot wooden doors displaying a hand written sign in English, “Beware of pickpockets.” I would often take the number 21 bus from Place St. Michel to Place de la and Concorde and see  the pyramid slowly rising. When completed, I was a member of a tour group led by the Pei office’s construction expediter. With its grand escalator reaching into the bowels of this former palace, I marveled at how he had animated this underground space converting it into a cultural shopping mall. On that occasion, I was one of very few people in the space and could appreciate the clarity of the design. When I later returned and the pyramid/entrance was open to the public, I could further appreciate the success of Pei’s design in managing large groups of people.

Twelve years ago, when I was working on a Chinese American project, we had lunch in New York at a small French restaurant on 18th Street between Fifth and Madison. Good food. Pleasant ambiance. Courteous service. His favorite. At the age of 90, he arrived by taxi, unaccompanied, and left similarly.

In retrospect, I would say that I.M.Pei manifested a kind of personal majesty that I seldom saw in others. I consider myself fortunate to have encountered him on several occasions.

Click Here To View Comments

TagsArchitectureChinai.m. peiNational Gallerynational gallery of artParis

Previous Story

Nightmares within Nightmares—
Playwright Ellen McLaughlin adapts The Oresteia

Next Story

Stephanie Escobar: Two Poems

About the author

Allon Schoener

Allon Schoener

Website

Our critic Allon Schoener has been: Director, Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center; Consultant, The Library of Congress; Guest Curator, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Director, Museum Aid Program, New York State Council on the Arts; Curator, San Francisco Museum of Art; Guest Curator and consultant, Smithsonian Institution; Assistant Director,The Jewish Museum, New York; Project Curator, United Nations Vienna Center.

Related Posts

  • Architectural visualization impact on Real Estate services

    By Our Friends
    Gone are the days when the architects used...
  • Rethinking the City

    By Rick Meghiddo
    Fareed Zakaria’s new book, “Ten Lessons...
  • Give Me Your Hand Combines Art, Theater and Poetry

    By David Sheward
    The Broadway League recently announced that...
  • Pedestrian Pandemic Adventures

    By R. Daniel Foster
    Like many, I’ve been taking tons of walks...

Support Our Friends

Follow Us

Join Our Mailing List

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @CulturalWeekly

Comments

  • maurice amiel maurice amiel
    A Case Against New Year’s Resolutions
    Here is an interesting new voice: candid,...
    1/14/2021
  • Matthew R. Matthew R.
    A Taste of Gypsy Boots
    Thank you Gypsy, for being brave in your new...
    1/8/2021
  • maurice amiel maurice amiel
    Bye Bye 2020 … a mute testimony
    given the events at the US Capitol of January 6th...
    1/7/2021

New

  • 5 Netflix Sports Docus that Will Inspire Your Inner Artist
  • Top 9 Things to Remember When Buying Car Accessories Online
  • The Dangers of Drug Addiction
  • Why Should we Focus on Our Mental Health?
  • The Different Types of Counseling

Tags

art dance film Los Angeles music photography poem poems poetry tomorrow's voices today

Like us

Please Help

Donate

Who are we?

Cultural Weekly is a place to talk about our creative culture with passion, perspective and analysis – and more words than “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.” Our mission is to draw attention to our cultural environment, illuminate it, and make it ... read more

Site map

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • Contributors
  • Cultural Weekly Style & Formatting Guide
  • Food
  • Home
  • Masthead
  • Privacy Policy/Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Submission Form
  • Submissions: Write for us
  • Subscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Thank You

Links

Adam Leipzig
Entertainment Media Partners
This Is Crowd
CreativeFuture
Plastic Oceans Foundation
Arts & Letters Daily
Alltop
Alexis Rhone Fancher
Jack Grapes
Ethan Bearman
Writ Large Press

Mailing List

* indicates required


  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy/Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Contact us
Cultural Weekly is the digital magazine and public platform of Next Echo Foundation. DONATE HERE.
Copyright © 2010-2020 by Adam Leipzig. All Rights Reserved.