I.M. Pei: Mandarin of Modernism - Hardcover

Cannell, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517799723 ISBN 13: 9780517799727

Publisher: Clarkson Potter, 1995

Synopsis

The first biography of an amazing modern master whose architectural vision and political skill have shaped our environment. Michael Cannell reveals here the history and personality behind the enigmatic Pei, our most famous living architect. 90 black-and-white photographs.

About this title

From Booklist:

Master architect Pei's clean and elegant buildings are well known, but the man himself remains somewhat of an enigma, even to those closest to him. Cannell, who writes for Time and the New Yorker, couldn't penetrate Pei's mask, but he does offer a rich and vivid portrait that captures the essence of Pei's charm, vitality, and success. Born into a wealthy and influential Chinese family, Pei grew up in Shanghai where he received a Western education, became enamored of American culture, and chose to study in the U.S. He arrived here in the 1930s, and his academic prowess carried him to Harvard and Walter Gropius' influential circle. But Pei, more a man of action than theory, left teaching to build buildings. Cannell chronicles the creation of all Pei's original structures, emphasizing the buildings that made him famous--the Kennedy Library and the National Gallery's East Building--as well as those that triggered controversies, such as the disaster-prone Hancock Tower in Boston and the Louvre pyramid. Urbane, diplomatic, and ardent, Pei has maintained a distinctive bicultural and aesthetic balance and retained an openness to fresh challenges, such as the design of the recently opened Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Donna Seaman

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0517799723
• ISBN 13: 9780517799727
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 402