• Architect IM Pei in 1979. AP Photo
    Architect IM Pei in 1979. AP Photo
  • Pei laughs while posing for a portrait in front of the Louvre glass pyramid in 1989. AP Photo
    Pei laughs while posing for a portrait in front of the Louvre glass pyramid in 1989. AP Photo
  • French President François Mitterrand shakes hands with Pei. AFP
    French President François Mitterrand shakes hands with Pei. AFP
  • President John F Kennedy Memorial Library Corporation President Stephen Smith, left, and Pei reveal new plans for the complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1974. Getty Images
    President John F Kennedy Memorial Library Corporation President Stephen Smith, left, and Pei reveal new plans for the complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1974. Getty Images
  • Pei explains a model of the German Historical Museum to German Housing and Construction Minister Klaus Toepfe in Bonn, Germany in 1997. Reuters
    Pei explains a model of the German Historical Museum to German Housing and Construction Minister Klaus Toepfe in Bonn, Germany in 1997. Reuters
  • Pei in New York, New York in 1956. Getty Images
    Pei in New York, New York in 1956. Getty Images
  • Pei stands with the plans of the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou in eastern China's Jiangsu Province. Chinatopix via AP
    Pei stands with the plans of the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou in eastern China's Jiangsu Province. Chinatopix via AP

IM Pei, architect behind Louvre pyramids, dies age 102


Sophie Prideaux
  • English
  • Arabic

Tributes have been pouring in for architect IM Pei who has died at the age of 102.

Pei is behind some of the world's most famous buildings, including the glass pyramids that stand outside the Louvre in Paris.

His iconic structures are renowned around the world for their precision geometry, plain surfaces and enhancement of natural light.

Pei was the 1983 recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, with judges saying he had "given this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms". He used the $100,000 prize money to offer scholarships for Chinese students to study architecture in the US.

He was also awarded a number of other prizes throughout his lifetime, including the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture and the AIA Gold Medal.

Pei’s other notable designs include Japan's Miho Museum, Hong Kong’s Bank of China tower, Dallas City Hall, and Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art – a design he worked on when he was in his 80s.

His style was said to be heavily influenced by his love of Islamic architecture, interlaced with modernist and cubist themes, which are visible in Pei-designed hotels, municipal buildings and schools around the world.

Ieoh Ming Pei was born in 1917 in Guangzhou, China, before moving to the US at the age of 18, where he studied at Pennsylvania, MIT and Harvard.

During the Second World War, he worked as a research scientist for the US government before going on to work as an architect. He founded his own firm in 1955.

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IM Pei's great works

  • The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France. Getty Images
    The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France. Getty Images
  • The John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. AP Photo
    The John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. AP Photo
  • The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Getty Images
    The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Getty Images
  • The German Historic Museum. Getty Images
    The German Historic Museum. Getty Images
  • The Bank of China building in Hong Kong. AP Photo
    The Bank of China building in Hong Kong. AP Photo
  • The Dallas City Hall. AP Photo
    The Dallas City Hall. AP Photo
  • The new Suzhou Museum. AFP
    The new Suzhou Museum. AFP