BOOKTALKS| Willpower Formation: Swirling Between Culture and Business - I. M. Pei: Complete Works

Introduction

I.M. Pei, the internationally renowned Chinese-American architect, is hailed as “the last master of modernism.” Over his six-decade career, he masterfully blended Eastern aesthetics with Western rationality, employing light as a design element to create timeless architectural masterpieces. His works possess profound aesthetic value while embodying the spirit of their era and humanistic concerns, continuing to inspire countless architects and creative professionals to this day.

When you think of I.M. Pei, which work comes to mind? Is it the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, a structure that sparks both controversy and awe? The serene and solemn Luce Memorial Chapel at Tunghai University in Taiwan? Or perhaps the Miho Museum, nestled in the mountains of Shiga Prefecture, Japan, with its ethereal beauty?

This lecture invites Shu-Chang Kung, architect and professor at the NYCU Graduate Institute of Architecture. Beginning with Pei’s and Da-Hong Wang’s graduation projects at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Kung guides us in exploring the distinct responses of these two architects to modernism and cultural traditions. The lecture will delve into the intellectual trajectory of Pei’s architecture, examining how he navigated the tensions between power and commerce to seek possibilities for “publicness,” and how he progressively pursued explorations of “culturality.” Furthermore, it will guide us in contemplating how Pei employed architectural form to articulate his own cultural identity and will.