I.M. Pei: Life is Architecture, the first full-scale retrospective of architect I. M. Pei (1917–2019), opened at M+ on June 29, 2024, and will be on view through January 5, 2025. One of the most influential architects of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Ieoh Ming Pei was a pioneering figure who fundamentally changed his field. 

Pei worked in the US, China, and around the world, completing high-profile projects including the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington, D.C., modernization of the Grand Louvre in Paris, Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. His life and work weave together a tapestry of power dynamics, geopolitical complexities, cultural traditions, and the character of cities around the world, and his transcultural vision laid a foundation for the contemporary world.

The exhibition takes an expanded and closer look at Pei’s practice through six themes: “Pei’s Cross-Cultural Foundations”, “Real Estate and Urban Redevelopment”, “Art and Civic Form”, “Power, Politics, and Patronage”, “Material and Structural Innovation”, and “Reinterpreting History through Design.” The themes place Pei’s practice in close dialogue with his biography as well as broader social and cultural developments to show that architecture and life are inseparable. The exhibition features a rich selection of drawings, sketches, videos, models, photographs, and other archival documentation, many of which will be on view for the first time. 

A book published by Thames & Hudson accompanies the exhibition. Learn more about the exhibition and related events at the M+ website. 

July 2024