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Early life and education Pei was born in Guangzhou, in the Guangdong province of China on April 26, 1917, to a prominent Suzhou family. His father, a prominent banker, was later the director of the Bank of China and the governor of the Central Bank of China. The family residence is now part of the World Heritage listed Classical Gardens of Suzhou. The house was called the Garden of the Lion Forest, and consisted of many rock sculptures carved naturally by water. Pei loved how the buildings and the nature were combined, and especially liked the way light and shadow mixed. His first education was at Saint John's University, Shanghai and then at St. Paul's College, Hong Kong before moving to the United States to study architecture at the age of 18. He started at the University of Pennsylvania before going on to receive his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. That same year, he was awarded the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, the MIT Travelling Fellowship, and the AIA Gold Medal. He enrolled at the Harvard Graduate School of Design two years later; shortly thereafter, he served at the National Defense Research Committee in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1944 he returned to Harvard, received his master degree in Architecture in 1946 and stayed at Harvard as an assistant professor. He received the Wheelwright Traveling Fellowship in 1951 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1954. Career Pei operated his own architectural firm, founded in 1955, which was known as I. M. Pei & Partners until 1989 when it became known as Pei Cobb Freed & Partners recognizing James Ingo Freed and Henry N. Cobb. Personal life Pei has three sons: the late T'ing Chung Pei, Chien Chung (Didi) Pei, Li Chung (Sandi) Pei, and a daughter: Liane Pei. Chien Chung and Li Chung both have followed their father to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Chien Chung Pei helped his father design the Louvre addition from 1989 to 1993. Li Chung Pei helped his father design the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong in 1989. Both became architects practicing under their own firm, Pei Partnerships. Pei has helped out at the firm since his retirement from his own firm in 1990. Project list Selected works Image:National Center for Atmospheric Research - Boulder, Colorado.JPG|1961 — National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado Image:THU Luce Memorial Chapel.jpg|1963 — Luce Memorial Chapel, Tunghai University, Taiwan Image:Green Building, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.JPG|1964 — Green Building, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Image:Choate_Rosemary_Hall_-_Arts_Center.JPG|1972 — Paul Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut Image:National_gallery_of_art_usa2.jpg|1974 — The East Building of the National Gallery of Art Image:IU Art Museum.jpg|1978 — Indiana University Art Museum at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana Image:Bank of china night.jpg|1989 — Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong Image:DSCN4568 clevelandrockandrollhallofame e.jpg|1995 — The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, showing Lake Erie in the background Reference Mandarin of ModernismISBN 0-517-79972-3 | ||||||||||
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