Suzhou gardens are well-known in the world, and the Lion Forest is ranked among the four famous gardens, which is an essential punching place for suzhou tourism today.
There was a man who had lived in the Lion Grove since he was a child— and as a child, that was his home.
Perhaps, because he grew up in such exquisite garden architecture, this child developed a strong interest in architectural design, and when he grew up, he became a world-famous architectural designer.
He is I.M. Pei.
▲ I.M. Pei
On April 26, 1917, Pei was born in Suzhou to a prominent family. To what extent does the Bei family "hope"?
It has been one of the four wealthy merchant families in Suzhou since the middle of the Qing Dynasty, and this family prosperity has always been continued. In the Republic of China, Pei Runsheng, the king of pigments, was his uncle, and Pei's grandfather Pei Litai was a famous financier in the late Qing Dynasty, and his father Pei Zuyi was the president of the Bank of China. The Pei family has been called "probably the only family in China that has been rich for more than 15 generations."
▲ I.M. Pei family photo (first from left)
This family background gave Pei more opportunities to touch a wide variety of excellent buildings.
In the early years of the Republic of China, Pei's grandfather purchased the Lion Grove, where little Pei spent his childhood.
At the age of ten, Pei returned to Shanghai to attend middle school. In Shanghai, which is lined with high-rise buildings, Pei saw an architectural landscape that was very different from that of a Chinese garden.
▲ Lion Forest (left) Shanghai Street (right)
This contrast between East and West led to a keen interest in architecture. So, despite his father's strong request that he go to Oxford to study traditional subjects, he himself eventually entered the University of Pennsylvania, went to the United States to study architecture, and studied at the Harvard Institute of Architecture, where he graduated with honors.
After graduation, Pei moved to New York and became an architectural designer.
▲ I.M. Pei during the Harvard period (second from left)
Zhang Ailing said that it is necessary to become famous early. This is perfectly reflected in I.M. Pei.
Why? Because, not long after Pei came to New York, he was given a valuable opportunity that many architects did not have in their lifetime.
A wealthy real estate developer in New York broke with racial prejudice and the conventions of the American architectural community by hiring Chinese Pei as an architect for the first time and as director of architectural research.
I have to say that this rich businessman really has a vision.
Just nine years after joining the company, in 1964, Pei acquired the design rights to the Kennedy Library.
You know, Kennedy is a president loved by Americans. The library project that bears his name is the most important public building project in the United States that year! A Chinese designer can get the design right, hard work and excellence, both are indispensable.
The library was located in Dorchester Bay and was built over a period of fifteen years. The black-and-white library overlooks the coast not far away, as if a beautiful book has been placed between land and sea, dotted with white paper and ink-colored imprints.
▲ Kennedy Library
Because of its innovative design and bold shape, the Kennedy Library caused a sensation in the American architectural world and is recognized as one of the best masterpieces in the history of American architecture.
The American architecture community declared 1979 the "Year of I.M. Pei" and awarded him the Year's American Academy of Architecture Gold Medal.
▲ I.M. Pei
In addition to the design of such well-known projects, Pei has also completed many "grounded" projects.
For example, residential apartments designed for NYU faculty and staff. Both architecturally aesthetic and economical, it was widely welcomed by the working class and led the design trend of the working-class apartments at that time.
In 1963, Rice University in Philadelphia awarded him the honorific title of "People's Architect." That same year, the American Architectural Society presented him with the New York Honor Award. The Washington Post also called his architectural design a truly urban plan that served the people.
The title of "People's Architect" reminds Pei of his homeland on the other side of the ocean. There are more people who nurture themselves and live together.
In 1979, China's reform and opening up was just beginning. What will happen to an open, taken-off China and a designer who is already famous in the world?
The story takes place in the capital, Beijing: The Chinese government invited Pei to design the Fragrant Hills Hotel. This is a place for China to entertain important foreign guests, which can be said to be the "façade" of the whole of China. What a deep trust!
Pei was also impressed by this trust, and he used all his learning to visit Beijing, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Chengde and other places to find inspiration and collect materials.
▲ Fragrant Hills Hotel
He always believes that "the more national, the more worldly", therefore, Xiangshan Hotel should reflect the most traditional Architectural Aesthetics of China. In the end, he adopted the layout of a series of irregular courtyards, so that the Fragrant Hills Hotel was integrated with the surrounding water, light, mountains, and towering ancient trees, becoming a building with a strong Chinese style.
Although the scale of the Fragrant Hills Hotel is not large, it "embodies the essence of Chinese national architecture".
After that, Pei designed venues for China such as the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the Bank of China Head Office Building in Beijing.
▲ Fragrant Hills Hotel
In his later years, I.M. Pei still did not stop his steps.
In 1980, French President Mitterrand invited Pei to renovate the Louvre.
This is a great challenge for I.M. Pei. Whether it is the xenophobia caused by the "Chinese" being responsible for France's most prestigious construction project, or the obstruction brought about by the French bureaucracy, or the complexity of the heads of the louvre's seven departments "going their own way" and holding each other back, the project is full of difficulties.
In the face of these thorny issues, Pei has won the trust and support of all walks of life with professional, advanced design concepts and respect for French culture.
Over a period of 15 years, a transparent pyramid stands on the napoleonic courtyard. The sun illuminates the underground hall under the pyramid, and the light and shadow become a wonderful decoration, and through the glass of the pyramid, visitors can also look up at the richness of the Louvre's historic buildings.
Today, I.M. Pei's design has not only won the approval of the French people, but also become one of the most famous symbols of France, and he brought the Louvre, which is nearly a thousand years old, into the 20th century in the best way!
▲ Louvre
After entering the 21st century, I.M. Pei, who is already 90 years old, returned to China again.
This time, he took over the Suzhou Museum project, and he integrated the architectural wisdom he had accumulated over the years and his feelings for his hometown.
In order to fully express the poetic feeling of Suzhou gardens, Pei created a landscape garden in the museum space. He integrated classical Chinese landscape painting into the design concept, "using the wall as paper and stone as the painting", imitating the Song Dynasty painter Mi Fu's "Mi's YunShan", and presenting a three-dimensional landscape map with the reflection effect of multiple stone pieces and water. The ink landscape seems to come to reality from the picture scroll.
This design concept not only combines the characteristics of Suzhou gardens, but also injects modern elements into the classics, making the Suzhou Museum the most spirited place in the city.
▲ Suzhou Museum
On May 16, 2019, Pei passed away at the age of 102.
As a world-renowned Master Architect of Chinese Descent, Pei has left many thought-provoking sentences for the architectural world, such as:
"Let the light do the design"
"Architecture is a precise, correct and superior treatment of all volumes in the sun."
"The most beautiful building should be built on time, and time will give all the answers."
……
These beliefs in architecture, together with I.M. Pei's work, have left a valuable legacy for future generations.
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