贝聿铭小传：中国著名的建筑师

By Dario Cantatore

When the Royal Institute of British Architects （RIBA） awarded its Royal Gold Medal to I. M. Pei in 2010， RIBA President Ruth Reed commented， “The Royal Gold Medal has been called， often erroneously，1 a lifetime achievement award. Seldom has it been so true as it is in the case of I. M. Pei. At 92 he is that rarity； an officially retired architect， though there is still work in the pipeline to be delivered， work that will crown the extraordinary achievements of six decades in which he has reinvented the housing，2 gallery， and commercial building types. He is truly an inspiration3 for all architects.”

Born in 1917 in Guangzhou， China， I. M. Pei earned a B.A. in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT） in 1940 and a Masters in architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1946， where he studied under German architect Walter Gropius， a pioneer of modernist architecture and founder of the Bauhaus school.4

Pei received many awards and recognitions throughout his career， including the Pritzker Prize in 1983， with a jury citation stating that he“has given this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms.”5 Pei used his $100，000 prize to establish a scholarship fund for Chinese students to study architecture in the United States， and then return to China to practice their profession.

Pei was also elected an Honorary Academician of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1993 and received various honorary doctorates，6 including from Harvard University， Columbia University， the Chinese University of Hong Kong， the American University of Paris and the University of Rome， among others.

Modernist Localism7

Although a member of the modernist generation， Pei has stood out for rejecting the implications of globalism inherent in the International Style of architecture that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s； a key movement of the formative decades of modernist architecture.8 The most common characteristics of the style， evident also in Peis work， are rectilinear forms； light， taut plane surfaces stripped of ornamentation and decoration； open interior spaces； and a visually weightless quality reflected by the cantilever construction.9 The favored materials are glass and steel， with a combination of less visible reinforced concrete.

Pei adapted to the styles characteristics， but instead of creating globally homogenized structures， he advocated contextual development and variation in style，10 inspired by the locality and the purpose of a project. Pei told ArchDaily that “the important distinction is between a stylistic approach to the design， and an analytical approach giving the process of due consideration to time， place， and purpose.” The Pritzker Prize citation also wrote of the architect， “His concern has always been the surroundings in which his buildings rise.”

When he first returned to China in 1974， to design the Fragrant Hills Hotel11， which was completed in 1982， Pei urged Chinese architects to take inspiration from their architectural traditions， rather than just emulating the West. The Hotel， located in a public park in the former Imperial Hunting Grounds outside Beijing， includes a central skylight space that preserves the existing ancient trees， with 325 rooms zigzagging out from it， in a balance of symmetry and asymmetry.12

Intimately merging building and gardens， interior and exterior， the hotel features individual rooms， in which a “window picture”framing the landscape opens onto the courtyard.13 Advanced Western technology is combined with Chinese vernacular architecture， avoiding literal imitation： all built by local craftsmen with age-old materials and techniques，14 the only imported element was the skylight. With this project， Pei contributed to forming a distinctly Chinese style of modern architecture that can be applied to a variety of buildings.

In the Luce Memorial Chapel （1963） in Taiwan， originally conceived as a wooden structure， the concrete beams， thicker at the base and tapering towards the tip of the tent-like design， form a latticework on the inside walls of the chapel.15 Its architecture combines complex technology and advanced engineering with a modernist aesthetic expression through its irregular hexagonal base and curved planes， adapted to the humid and seismic conditions and the landscape of its location.16 The structure evokes Le Corbusiers Philips Pavilion at Expo 58 in Brussels.17

In the 1990s， Pei worked on two projects in Japan including Miho Museum， a French limestone and glass roof structure completed in 1996 on a scenic mountainside in a nature preserve near Shigaraki， which houses a collection of tea ceremony and historical artifacts from the Silk Road.18 The difficult location of the project led Pei to incorporate19 the architectural structure in the mountain： He built a tunnel through a mountain leading up to the museum via a bridge suspended from 96 steel cables， while 80 percent of the building is located underground. Peis mountain tunnel was partly inspired by a story from Chinese poet Tao Yuanming.

Opened to the public in 2006， the Suzhou Museum20 was seen as a second chance by Pei， who told The New York Times that the Fragrant Hills Hotel was a disappointment， commenting， “I was saved by the trees.” Suzhou has a personal significance for Pei， whose grandfather had a house there that he would visit during the summer， so accepting the Suzhou government project came naturally. The large white stucco museum is situated on hallowed ground adjoining a complex of historical structures and two gardens listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.21

Pei used grey and white， “Suzhou colors，” combined with a modern structure， commenting， “[In China] architecture and the garden are one. A Western building is a building， and a garden is a garden. Theyre related in spirit. But they are one in China.”

MUDAM， Luxembourg， opened in 2006， serves as another example of Peis adherence to the adaptation of a design to its context.22 With an asymmetrical V shape， a glass topped bell turret and another octagonal wing， the museum rises over the ruins of a fortress.23 The new， formalist structure not only reflects the ancient， but blends with it； its monumental， geometrical volumes becoming an extension of the past.24

A Futuristic25 Vision

Peis most well-known work worldwide is probably his underground extension to the Louvre26 in Paris， including the crystal pyramid. It is one of many that adopt a “futuristic” vision， brutally27 breaking from tradition. Originally a point of controversy after its completion in 1989， the pyramid has been accepted over the years and is now hailed as one of his most iconic projects.28 Pei said，“Formally， [the pyramid] is the most compatible with the architecture of the Louvre…， it is also one of the most structurally stable of forms， which assures its transparency， as it is constructed of glass and steel， it signifies a break with the architectural traditions of the past. It is a work of our time.”

The Bank of China Tower29 in Hong Kong， opened in 1990， was the tallest building in Asia until 1992 and is still one of the tallest in Hong Kong. Inspired by bamboo， a symbol of hope and revitalization30 in China， the trunk of the building emulates the growth patterns of the plant， reducing its mass towards the top. The composite structural system also resists high winds and eliminates the need for many internal vertical supports， a usual requirement in the typhoon-prone location.31

The JFK Presidential Library32 （1979） at Columbia Point peninsula in Boston has been said to exemplify an “architectural presence representing both memorial and monument.” With Peis play of space and light， and his iconic geometric structures， the librarys understated form comprises a singular and brilliant triangular tower protruding from an expanding base of geometric forms，33 with a cube of glass and steel rising along with the tower.

The East Building of the National Gallery of Art （1978） in Washington D.C. was designed to reflect the trapezoidal form of the plot it stands on.34 Pei started from two triangular sections， and used the isosceles as a unifying motif of the building，35 in the marble floors， steel frame and glass skylights. Other triangular forms are repeated in a variety of elements， while the interior features softened， rounder lines. In the plaza36 between the East and West Buildings are glass pyramids referencing the East Buildings ceiling. The pyramids subsequently became a trademark37 of Peis museum designs， as seen in the Louvre.

I. M. Pei has contributed to elevating architecture to a unique and individual form of artistic expression， while creating a harmonious relationship with its surroundings and its social function.38 Pei said in his acceptance speech for the 1983 Pritzker Prize， “I believe that architecture is a pragmatic39 art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity.”

1. Royal Institute of British Architects： 英国皇家建筑师协会，1834年以“英国建筑师协会”的名称成立，1837年取得英国皇家协会资格，宗旨是开展学术讨论，提高建筑设计水平，保障建筑师的职业标准。该协会颁发的“皇家金奖”（Royal Gold Medal）为英国建筑界最高奖项；erroneously： 错误地。

2. rarity： 罕见；crown： 圆满地结束，使达到顶峰；reinvent： 彻底改造。

3. inspiration： 启发灵感的人（或事物）。

4. Walter Gropius： 沃尔特·格罗皮乌斯，著名现代建筑师和建筑教育家，现代主义建筑学派的倡导人和奠基人之一；Bauhaus school： 包豪斯学院。1919年3月16日，魏玛政府内务大臣弗里希正式任命格罗皮乌斯为魏玛的撒克森大公艺术学院和撒克森大公艺术与工艺学校校长。3月20日，两校合并为国立建筑设计学院，即“包豪斯”。从字面上讲，“包豪斯”的意思是“造房子”，而作为一个专有名词，它是指格罗皮乌斯1919年在魏玛创立的德国古典现代主义中最为著名的一个艺术和设计流派，该派于1919—1933年在建筑、工艺设计方面的作品对世界的建筑艺术和工艺设计的发展产生了重大的影响。

5. Pritzker Prize： 普里茨克奖，被誉为“建筑界的诺贝尔奖”；citation： 引文，引语。

6. Honorary Academician： 荣誉院士；Royal Academy of Arts： 英国皇家美术研究院，1768年成立，为培育绘画、雕刻、建筑艺术方面的人才作出了巨大贡献；doctorate： 博士学位。

7. modernist： 现代主义的，现代派的；localism： 地域主义。

8. stand out： 突出，引人注意；inherent： 本质的，内在的；formative： 形成的，发展的。

9. rectilinear： 直线的；taut： 简洁的；ornamentation： 装饰；cantilever： 悬臂。

10. homogenized： 类同化的；contextual： 上下文的，视环境而定的。

11. Fragrant Hills Hotel： 香山饭店。位于北京西山风景区的香山公园内，建筑独具特色，1984年曾获美国建筑师协会荣誉奖。整座饭店凭借山势，高低错落，蜿蜒曲折，院落相间，内有十八景观，山石、湖水、花草、樹木与白墙灰瓦式的主体建筑相映成趣，是“具有中国传统建筑韵味的现代建筑”。

12. skylight： 天窗；zigzag： 呈“之”字形，曲折前行；symmetry： 对称；asymmetry： 不对称。

13. merge： 结合，融入；courtyard： 庭院，天井。

14. vernacular： 本土的，地方（特有）的；literal： 刻板的，缺乏想象力的；craftsman： 工匠，手艺人。

15. Luce Memorial Chapel： 路思义教堂；tapering： 尖端细的，上粗下细的；latticework： 斜条格构。

16. aesthetic： 美学的；hexagonal： 六边形的；seismic： 地震的。

17. evoke： 使人想起；Philips Pavilion： 1958年布鲁塞尔世界博览会的飞利浦馆，其造型奇特，恰似冲天的飞机，由著名建筑家勒·柯布西耶（Le Corbusier）设计。作为主办国对1958年世博会主题“科学、文明和人性”的生动诠释，它打动了无数参观者的心。

18. Miho Museum： 美秀美术馆，位于日本滋贺县甲贺市的一家私立美术馆，创办人为小山美秀子，馆藏甚丰；limestone： 石灰岩；scenic：风景优美的；Shigaraki： 信乐，位于滋贺县甲贺市信乐町，信乐烧陶器十分出名；artifact： 人工制品。

19. incorporate： 合并，吸收。

20. Suzhou Museum： 苏州博物馆。建于1960年，馆址太平天国忠王府为首批全国重点文物保护单位，是国内保存完整的一组太平天国历史建筑物。1999年由贝聿铭负责设计苏州博物馆新馆。新馆于2006年10月6日建成并正式对外开放，是一座集现代化馆舍建筑、古建筑与创新山水园林三位一体的综合性博物馆。

21. stucco：（拉毛）粉饰灰泥；hallowed： 受崇敬的，神圣（化）的；adjoin： 紧挨，毗邻。

22. MUDAM： 让大公现代艺术博物馆（法语：Musée dArt Moderne GrandDuc Jean），简称“穆旦”，是卢森堡大公国的国家美术馆，展出现代暨当代艺术作品；adherence： 坚持，遵循。

23. turret： 角楼，塔楼；octagonal： 八边形的；fortress： 堡垒，要塞。

24. formalist： 形式主义的；monumental：巨大的，雄伟的；geometrical： 几何图形的。

25. futuristic： 未来主义的。

26. Louvre： 卢浮宫，位于法国巴黎市中心的塞纳河北岸，位居世界四大博物馆之首，始建于1204年，原是法国的王宫，居住过50位法国国王和王后，是法国文艺复兴时期最珍贵的建筑物之一，以收藏丰富的古典绘画和雕刻而闻名于世。卢浮宫博物馆分新老两部分，宫前的金字塔形玻璃入口系贝聿铭设计。

27. brutally： 冷酷无情地。

28. controversy： 冲突，争论；hail： 热情赞扬，欢呼认可；iconic： 标志性的。

29. Bank of China Tower： 香港中银大厦，是中国银行在香港的总部。

30. revitalization： 新生，复活。

31. composite： 合成的，复合的；typhoonprone： 易遭受台风影响的。

32. The JFK Presidential Library： 约翰·肯尼迪总统图书馆，于1964年为纪念已故美国总统约翰·肯尼迪而建造，并于1979年建成，坐落于波士顿近郊的哥伦比亚角。由于设计新颖、造型大胆、技术高超，该图书馆在美国建筑界引起轰动，被公认为美国建筑史上最佳杰作之一。美国建筑界宣布1979年是“贝聿铭年”，并授予他该年度的美国建筑师协会金奖。

33. understated： 朴素的，低调的；singular：独特的；protrude： 突出，伸出。

34. The East Building of the National

Gallery of Art： 华盛顿国家美术馆东馆，为美国国家美术馆（即西馆）的扩建部分。造型新颖独特，平面为三角形，既与周围环境和谐一致，又造成醒目的效果，内部设计丰富多彩，采光与展出效果极佳；trapezoidal： 梯形的。

35. isosceles： 等腰三角形；unifying： 統一的，一致的；motif： 主题。

36. plaza： 露天广场。

37. trademark： 标记，特征。

38. elevate： 抬高，提升；harmonious： 和谐的，协调的。