Quotes by I. M. Pei

I. M. Pei

Architecture is the very mirror of life.You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.

Eye

Life

Reflection

At home, I have a wife, fortunately, and my children are all grown, and I have many grandchildren. I spend weekends with my grandchildren; I adore them.

Children

Home

Weekend

At the beginning, I thought the best Islamic work was in Spain – the mosque in Cordoba, the Alhambra in Granada. But as I learned more, my ideas shifted. I traveled to Egypt, and to the Middle East many times.I found the most wonderful examples of Islamic work in Cairo, it turns out. I’d visited mosques there before, but I didn’t see them with the same eye as I did this time. They truly said something to me about Islamic architecture.

Egypt

Eye

Islamic

Be the best, not necessarily the original.

Being The Best

Originals

Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it’s not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don’t want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.

Roots

Times Have Changed

Want

Design is something you have to put your hand to.

Design

Hands

For Kips Bay, I had a wonderful client, William Zeckendorf, who was willing to gamble with me on using concrete and not brick for a high-rise apartment building. That was very innovative at the time.

Bricks

Clients

Wonderful

François Mitterrand was a student of architecture, he had done a lot of research before he called me. He said, “You did something special at the National Gallery of Art in Washington – you brought the new and the old together.” But John Russell Pope finished the West Building in 1941, so when the East Building opened it was only about 40 years old. But the Louvre is 800 years old! A much bigger design challenge.

Art

Design

Years

Great artists need great clients.

Artist

Clients

Needs

I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.

Art

Believe

Foundation

Follow The Behaviour University in order to get the greatest quotes from the greatest people of all time so that you can tap into your own greatness.

Architecture

Art

Artist

Being The Best

Believe

Bricks

Challenges

Children

Cities

Civilization

Clients

Community

Design

Egypt

Eye

Foundation

Hands

Home

Individual

Islamic

Kids

Knowing

Life

Life Is

Listening

Long

Mahler

Mirrors

Missed Opportunity

Museums

Needs

New York

Opportunity

Originals

Past

Permanent

Piano Music

Reflection

Roots

Taken

Temptation

Thinking

Times Have Changed

Two

Want

Weekend

Wings

Wonderful

Worry

Years

The Future Blueprint

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The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

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The Autobiography

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The Behaviour Diary

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The Dating Diary

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The Relationship Therapist

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Quotes by I. M. Pei

I. M. Pei

Architecture is the very mirror of life.You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.

At home, I have a wife, fortunately, and my children are all grown, and I have many grandchildren. I spend weekends with my grandchildren; I adore them.

Be the best, not necessarily the original.

Contemporary architects tend to impose modernity on something. There is a certain concern for history but it’s not very deep. I understand that time has changed, we have evolved. But I don’t want to forget the beginning. A lasting architecture has to have roots.

Design is something you have to put your hand to.

For Kips Bay, I had a wonderful client, William Zeckendorf, who was willing to gamble with me on using concrete and not brick for a high-rise apartment building. That was very innovative at the time.

Great artists need great clients.

I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.

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Topics by I. M. Pei

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The Future Blueprint

The Home Therapist: Anti Anxiety

The Autobiography

The Behaviour Diary

The Dating Diary

The Relationship Therapist

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