My Chosen Artist - Ieoh Ming Pei

Instead of focusing on a sculptor, painter or a fine artist, I choose to shed light on someone who is not so 'experimentalist'/'alternative', yet no less significant especially in the history of architecture. His name is Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I.M. Pei.

I.M. Pei is a Chinese American architect often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton (Guangzhou) and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou. He has won a wide variety of prizes and awards in the field of architecture, including the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1989, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 2003. In 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture.

The first reason for me to get to know about Pei is the skyscraper situated in Central of Hong Kong. It's hard not to notice this spectacular and unique building, which was designed to resemble the shape of a bamboo and to symbolize the traditional spirit of the Chinese people, that is, to aspire the highness while remaining integrity.

Another work of his - a more well-known one - that I love is the glass and steel pyramid of the Louvre Museum. Seen as an ambitious and even unimaginable plan at first, this pyramid has proved to be one of the most significant work of architecture in history.

As I was doing research about I.M Pei, the Miho Museum attracted my attention. Situated in the midst of mountains, it looks like a heaven in a faraway land. 80% of the body of this architecture is buried underground because of relevant regulations of Japanese government. In my opinion, it is the perfect embodiment of harmony between human and nature. I become so absorbed in this architecture that I can wait to do more research on Pei's works.