Dr. Billington – On Pei’s donation of his papers to the library
– "We are delighted with the donation of this significant body of work, which
documents the creation of some of the most distinguished buildings of the late 20th century and the life and times of the gifted architect who designed them."
Pei was both complimented
and criticized for his work in ‘Louvre’. "The style is completely different
from the rest of the building."
Per Wahlin –
"What is it then that makes the Pei buildings stand out, as far as I am concerned. It
is the firm’s consistent use of geometric forms, especially triangles and
parallelograms that make their buildings so exciting as photographic objects."
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Song Xinchao, a deputy director at the State Administration of Cultural Heritage – "On the demolition orders of Pei’s ancestral house. We can list a building as a national treasure, but we have no power to enforce punishment if someone tears it down."
Liu Bingkum, a lecturer at the China State Academy of fine arts – "Today, everyone’s so concerned with making money that we think it’s fine to tear down historic Arts. But if we lose our history, what are we left with ?" He Bing, a park project manager – The only building that emerges unscathed is a nondescript gray affair that once housed the office of a Communist Party magazine. Now, that building has real history. The Pei’s home may house a family’s soul, but it holds the wrong kind of history." |
Eason Leonard –
partner – "He comes with a different set of batteries from the rest of us."
Arthur Rosenblatt –
Architect – "His elegant presence is enlivened by a prodigious smile and merry
eyes that shine perpetually behind owlish round – rimmed glasses. He’s like the
greatest maitre’d at the greatest restaurant in the world."
Le Figaro – a
conservative daily on the pyramid of ‘Louvre’ – ‘The whole layout is
absurd.'
Le Monde –
commentator – "You rub your eyes, you think you’re dreaming it seems that
you’ve gone back to the era of castles for sale Hollywood copies of the temple of
Solomon of Alexander, of Cleopatra…It doesn’t seem justified to treat the
courtyard of the house like a Disneyland annex or a rebirth of the defunct Luna
Park."
Mihai Radu – a
junior designer – "I never got the impression that he was discouraged or
depressed. He perceived it as part of his job to make people understand his work.
He’s a very level person. I’ve never seen IM when he wasn’t smiling, and he
was smiling even then."
"He takes great joy
in standing anonymously in a corner of his building, watching children in bus loads gasp
with awe over his beautiful creation."
"When I look at the
work of I M Pei I can hear his music in the sky above and around it. Don’t you
?"
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