"The last master of modern architecture," designer of the Louvre Pyramid
A Chinese-American architect, one of the most renowned of the twentieth century, hailed as "the last master of modern architecture." He carried modernism’s pursuit of geometry, light, and precision to an elegant, restrained extreme. His most famous work is the glass pyramid on the Louvre’s courtyard — using the purest modern geometry to give the ancient palace a bright, transparent new entrance. Before it was built it drew huge controversy for "putting a modern glass triangle before a classical palace," yet it is now an inseparable symbol of Paris. He also designed the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, and the Suzhou Museum. Moving all his life between East and West, he folded the restraint of the Chinese literatus and the reason of modernism into a geometry of light and stone.
When Pei proposed raising a modern glass pyramid at the center of the solemn old Louvre courtyard, nearly all France erupted — denounced as "desecration," "a scar on the face of Paris." He held on against a tide of criticism. After the pyramid was built, people found: this transparent modern geometry, far from harming the old palace, let old and new converse and complete each other wonderfully. Today it is one of the most beloved landmarks of Paris.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.