M+'s critically acclaimed Special Exhibition 'I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture' concludes with more than 225,000 visitations

M+, Asia's global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, is pleased to announce that its critically acclaimed and award-winning Special exhibitions. I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, supported by the Lead Sponsor Bank of China (Hong Kong), concluded on Jan. 5 2025 with more than 225,000 visitations.

The exhibition — seven years in the making — is the first full-scale retrospective of Chinese American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (1917–2019), widely known as I. M. Pei, one of the most influential architects of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Organized with the support of the Estate of I. M. Pei and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, which succeeded the architectural firm Pei founded, the retrospective featured more than 400 objects, including original drawings, architectural models, photographs, films, and archival documentation from institutional and private holdings, many of them never exhibited before.

I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture will tour the Power Station of Art in Shanghai and Qatar Museums Gallery, Al Riwaq in Doha in 2025

Curated by Shirley Surya, Curator, Design and Architecture, M+, and Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut (New Institute), Rotterdam, I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture received more than 225,000 visitations during the six-month exhibition period. The exhibition was named one of the ten best architecture and design exhibitions of 2024 byDezeen, an influential international architecture and design magazine, and was shortlisted for Best Exhibition Experience by the Wallpaper ChinaDesign Awards in 2024. The exhibition will travel to the Power Station of Art in Shanghai from April to July 2025 and to Qatar Museums Gallery, Al Riwaq in Doha from November 2025 to February 2026.

Exhibition monograph named Best Architecture Book of the Year at the Architecture Book of the Year Awards 2024

The 400-page monograph I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture, edited by Shirley Surya and Aric Chen and published by Thames & Hudson in collaboration with M+, won two awards at the Architecture Book of the Year Awards 2024: Best Architecture Book of the Year in the Practice category, and Best Architecture Book of the Year, the top honor. The monograph presents both celebrated and lesser-known aspects of I. M. Pei's life and career by featuring largely unpublished archival materials, newly commissioned photographs and essays, and personal anecdotes from scholars and those who knew and worked with Pei. The Architecture Book of the Year Awards are organized by the World Architecture Festival, the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, and the Temple Bar Trust.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, 'I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture is M+'s second Special Exhibition to tour internationally following the success of Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now, which traveled to Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain in 2023 and Serralves Museum in Portugal in 2024. We take pride in the curatorial expertise of our in-house team, which encompasses different disciplines of visual culture, and our exhibitions that are built on research and scholarship and appeal to a wide audience. We will continue to build new partnerships between M+ and renowned international institutions through our expanding touring program, engaging and inspiring audiences all around the world.'

I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture is generously supported by the Lead Sponsor Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bei Shan Tang Foundation, the Family of S. P. Tao, Travel Partner Cathay, and Hotel Partner The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong.

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