Becoming the architect of one's own luminous legacy

The Power Station of Art, Shanghai, is giving Ieoh Ming Pei (1917-2019), the Chinese American architect who built the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris, his first full-scale retrospective exhibition on the Chinese mainland.

From April 26 to July 27, the exhibition I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture features more than 400 items, including original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and other archival documentation from institutional and private holdings, many of which have never been exhibited.

Known as the most internationally influential Chinese-born American architect of the 20th century, Pei won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1983, the most prestigious award in the world of architecture. He designed many recognizable, high-profile projects, such as the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington DC, Frangrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, the Suzhou Museum in Jiangsu province, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.

Initiated by M+, a museum dedicated to showcasing contemporary visual culture in Hong Kong, the exhibition was first held in Hong Kong from June 2024 to January. The current exhibition in Shanghai marks the first full-scale retrospective of the legendary architect on the Chinese mainland.

"We are delighted to partner with the Power Station of Art to bring this retrospective to a broader audience, particularly focusing on Pei's formative years and architectural projects in China. This exhibition reintroduces Pei and his significant contributions while illuminating often-overlooked facets of his remarkable career," says Suhanya Raffel, the museum director of M+.